Feeling Alone
by Angels-do-exist
Summary: Kagome and Inuyasha are separated for many reasons... and by hundreds of years. How this came to be and what they are going through while being separated. Can their love for each other survive? Can they find their way back to each other? update 2011
1. Lowest Point, Ray of Hope

**Chapter One** – Feeling Alone

**Yes this is another story I thought of while I was supposed to be sleeping… stupid ideas that come at the wrong time! Especially in the middle of the night! Especially when I had a job interview early the next morning! No I didn't stay up that night and write this, I'm not crazy! Lol, I did it the next afternoon. I warn ahead of time that this story is a little depressive at the beginning and involves attempted suicide. This story has now been re-written since I started it back a couple years ago, hopefully I can get back into the flow and write more.**

**Dreams and Flash backs are in _italics._**

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"Inuyasha…what's wrong?" Kagome asked softly as she turned her head and looked up at him, her brown eyes pensive as she watched his handsome profile. He had been acting increasingly protective yet kind of distant as if he was thinking seriously about something – that in itself was strange enough. It had been going on the last couple days and she wasn't sure what was going on, not that Inuyasha was the kind of guy that came out and told you what he was feeling. No, he kept a lot of it all to himself and you were left to guess and try to work out what was wrong. Actually it had probably started when she had been injured in a minor scuffle between their group and one of Naraku's incarnations, it had only increased when they had begun their journey back to the well.

"Nothing…there is nothing wrong," he replied softly though there was a touch of gruffness in his tone. His ears twitched slightly this way and that as they caught the night sounds surrounding the village before he turned his golden gaze down to her. His gaze was gentle and loving as he stared down into her own chocolate brown eyes for a few moments before he looked away and pulled her onto his lap abruptly before stating, "You should get some rest Kagome…it's getting late."

"Mm…I guess I am kind of tired," she said softly with a soft yawn though she continued to struggle against the strong pull of sleep, which was hard since it was so comfortable on his lap with his chest as her pillow, though she somehow managed to force her eyes to stay open. "But I wanted to talk to you about why you're acting so strange…you haven't been yourself since we left to come to Kaede's village…"

"Sleep Kagome," Inuyasha told her in a firm tone which announced quite firmly that he wouldn't tell her anything tonight. With a soft huff Kagome crossed her arms over her chest and looked ready to get into a fight with him so Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him so she was now snuggled against his chest with his head on top of her. After a few moments she gave in and with a muttered fine and goodnight she fell asleep quite quickly and comfortably.

Once she was asleep Inuyasha sighed softly and gazed down at the girl in his arms, the girl that had become his very life. He gently nuzzled the side of her neck taking in her scent as she slept. The sight of Kagome made his heart swell with pride and love. That such a beautiful and wonderful woman would want to be his... he had never had something so precious and special before. His ears twitched again and he pulled her closer as he listened to the second heartbeat from within, so soft that most wouldn't have noticed but he was part inu youkai. Their hearing and smell was superior to most youkai, his and Kagome's baby nestled safely inside her, he couldn't have been happier except Naraku was still alive and the fight wasn't over. He had already taken Kikyo away and he didn't want to lose Kagome and their unborn child. It would hurt even more.

"Mm…" Kagome said drowsily as she shifted in his arms, the silver strands tickling her neck as he sniffed at her and she giggled softly when she realised it was Inuyasha. "Inuyasha!" she said in a mock scolding tone as she opened her eyes to look at him with sleepy brown eyes. "I am trying to sleep you know…you should sleep too."

"What?" he said gruffly as he shifted in his place and nuzzled his face against her neck. "I wasn't doing nothing…so go back to sleep." Kagome rolled her eyes, sometimes he acted just like her little brother she thought before falling back to sleep once more without any other interruptions until the morning dawned.

After breakfast Inuyasha told her that he wanted to go for a walk with her and she agreed. They wandered through the forest together holding hands as they talked about this and that while they walked but the majority of it was in pleasant, companionable silence that didn't need words. Eventually finding their way to the well, the magical portal that had brought Kagome to him at the beginning, "I love you Kagome," Inuyasha said softly as he lowered his head and kissed her gently on the lips, causing her to melt against his chest.

"Mm…love you too," she said with a contented sigh as she snuggled into him. It was nice to see this loving and caring side of Inuyasha that she had always known was there it had just been hidden under the rough exterior, but it just made these moments all the more precious. She loved him faults and all though when Inuyasha whispered something too soft for her to hear Kagome looked up to see tears shimmer in the golden depths. She reached up and cupped his cheeks, "What's wrong Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha grabbed her around the waist and held her to him for a few moments as he savoured the feeling of her against him and nuzzled her neck, taking in her sent for as long as possible before he looked down into her eyes and whispered, "I…I'm so sorry Kagome…I just want to keep you safe from harm… please...forgive me."

With those final words he pushed her down the well like he had done already once to her before many years before and the reason was almost the same as back then. It was…to keep her safe and out of danger even though it broke his heart to see those wide shocked and hurt eyes looking up at him as she fell backwards, reaching out to him as she attempted to grab onto him as she cried, "Inuyasha!"

And then she was gone, he wiped his tears away holding their part of the jewel in his palm. He couldn't let her or their child get hurt, when it was safe he would go and get her again he promised himself. It wouldn't be that long and he would let her yell at him as much as she wanted…as long as she was safe.

**Three years later...**

_"No! Inuyasha!" she cried out loud when she reached the bottom of the well, the smooth hard ground under her body. "Don't make me go! Don't leave me! Inuyasha!" she cried, tears streamed down her cheeks unchecked as she slammed her fists onto the walls that surrounded her until her flesh was raw and bleeding. Still crying she pulled herself up the ladder and out of the well before she jumped back down again, but nothing happened. No flash of blue, no magical portal to take her back to the feudal era and a small whimper escaped her lips. With shaking hands she felt at her neck for the Shikon jewel but it wasn't there any more…it was gone. _

_She looked around frantically and her gaze was caught by a shimmery blue sphere that floated above her. It was almost like a mirror and in it she could see a tall, red-clad figure walking away from her, leaving her behind. "Inuyasha! Don't go!" she yelled despite the fact she knew that he couldn't hear her, voice breaking full of pain and misery._

Kagome started awake. Dark brown eyes flashed open to find that she was lying in bed with her damp sheets tangled around her long limbs. She could feel the wetness upon her cheeks as she pushed the thick ebony hair out of her face with slightly shaking hands and heart beating erratically in her chest as her chest heaved as she attempted to calm down from the familiar dream that tormented her. With a deep and calming breath she kicked the sheets away from her legs and slipped out of bed, she had to check whether her nightmares had woken him as well. Using the heel of her palm she wiped away the damp trails on her cheeks and walked over to the other bed, he was where she had put him to sleep earlier except that large golden brown eyes were staring at her worried worriedly and Kagome was aware that he could smell her freshly shed tears.

"Are you okay Mummy?" Taishi asked softly.

"Yes baby," she said with a loving smile as she leaned against the side of his bed and pushed his ashen blonde hair away from his sleepy but worried face. "Mummy just had a nightmare, that's all. Go back to sleep sweetie," she told him softly as she kissed his forehead and Taishi closed his eyes again. She knew it wouldn't be long before sleep would claim him once more, though she couldn't say the same for herself.

Kagome padded silently out of the room and into the kitchen, she moved around the small room, sighing softly as her past caught up with her. The sound barely audible as she walked over to the kitchen window, staring out of the window at the dark moonless sky, dawn was still a few hours away. Inuyasha would be human right now...

She put her head in her hands as the memories assaulted her senses - it had been three years since she had seen him and time seemed to drag on in his absence. She had jumped down the well every day for two months before her mother padlocked the door in an attempt to keep her out and from injuring herself with her obsession - she had managed to sprain and twist her ankles a number of times as well as a number of other small injuries. But after her mother had locked it she had fallen deeper into depression, becoming despondent and uninterested in everything to do with the present.

She didn't want to be in the present and didn't pretend otherwise and her family couldn't pull her out of it no matter what they tried, however they hadn't even realised the severity of her emotional state until it was too late and she got to the point where she didn't even want to live without Inuyasha. It was too hard to be without him and killing herself seemed like the best option, the only option. She was content in the idea of death, she wanted the pain and misery that was her current existence to all stop.

_"If I can't be with him then I don't want to be alive at all, I don't want to be here and feel all this pain and sadness that I feel daily. He dead in this time and I can't get back to him without the jewel…it's hopeless." She said to herself as the dark-haired girl walked into the bathroom, a long silver knife glinting in her hand as she closed and locked the bathroom door behind her. As she walked further inside she glanced at the vanity mirror only to pause and cock her head to the side in wonder at the person that looked back at her from the depths. The girl looked like her but couldn't be her. The person in the mirror looked so haunted, sad and hopeless while her eyes glinted a little too brightly with an unknown emotion. This other girl looked like someone who had nothing left to loose and no hope._

_She shook her head to get rid of the image, though her action only caused her dark hair to slip off her right shoulder and she froze, there it was - __his mating mark that covered an inch sized area between her shoulder and neck. The mark looked like a dark indigo lightning bolt and similar to the markings he got himself on his cheeks when in his demon form,__ a constant reminder of him and an ever present symbol of the love they shared. Finally after two years of searching for the shards he had realised that it was Kagome that he loved and they had become serious. A year later they reached the point where she gave her virginity away and he took her as a mate, with plans for them to marry in the human custom when they got a chance. But then...he..._

_Tears blurred her vision and her grip on the knife tightened and she turned away from the mirror she slipped off her clothes before replacing them with a fluffy pink robe that she didn't really like. She didn't want to get any of her good ones all bloody and ruined. No, there was no logic in that but it didn't matter. She lay against the white porcelain bath and ran the sharp blade over one of her wrists, wincing she closed her eyes at the sharp pain and a few tears trickled down her cheeks. Thinking__ about whether to cut the other wrist too when __there was a sensation like someone was watching her so her she opened her eyes. Someone was leaning over her and a look of disbelief appeared on her face as she watched the apparition, he had to be a figment of her imagination because he couldn't be real. _

_"Inu…yasha?" Kagome asked softly, but no his eyes were browner than Inuyasha's bright gold and his hair wasn't silver…more of an ashen colour._

_"No Mummy I'm not him," the apparition said softly with what looked like tears in his large golden brown eyes as he looked down at her bleeding in the bathtub. "Don't you want me Mummy? Don't you love me? You're leaving me...killing me." _

_"Who…who are you?" she asked staring up at him, now very unsure who this child was that looked so similar to Inuyasha and a moment of clarity snapping her out of her daze. Kagome sat up in the bath, the movement causing her to feel dizzy and light headed for a moment before she climbed out of the bathtub. Grabbing one of the towels hanging on the rack she wrapped it tightly around her wrist though she knew she had lost a lot of blood already and couldn't be sure how much, not to mention the fact her blood was already turning the towel crimson as well._

_Shaking off the woozy feeling she continued trying to put pressure on her wrist as she ran to the phone and dialed her mother's mobile, when she heard her mother's voice there was an overwhelming sense of relief filled her and tears slipped down her cheeks. A sob escaped her lips with her rushed words, "Mum! I…help me mum…I don't want to…die anymore. I don't want to…die." Her words faded off at the end and she slipped into unconsciousness the phone falling from her grip._

After her attempted suicide they had put her on depressant medication and had made her see a psychiatrist until she eventually refused. After all how could she explain to anyone about going into the feudal era? They would just think she was crazy instead and want to put her into a loony bin. After she explained her reasoning her family backed her up and she stopped seeing the psychiatrist, though it seemed that after the suicide attempt she slowly lost her listlessness and regained some of her energy and life back. She had gained back her will to live because she was fairly certain she was pregnant, but she didn't want to say anything encase she was wrong so she got the courage to go to the chemist and buy a pregnancy test while the rest of her family was out and her mother found her sitting on the bath tub staring at the positive test in her hand.

Her mother had been supportive but for the first time she breached the subject of Inuyasha and why it was that she couldn't go back. She told her Inuyasha had left her and told her to go back home where she belonged, that she couldn't get back anymore because he'd taken her part of the jewel away. She didn't want to get more into it than that, it was private and she didn't want to voice out loud her fears and worries because it would make them too real. She didn't want to believe that Inuyasha had abandoned her…and each day she had hoped that he would come for her but it was getting harder to believe.

After Taishi was born she knew he was the apparition that had snapped her out of her hopelessness. The idea had crossed her mind once or twice during the pregnancy but that could have just been a delusion, something that her subconscious had managed to conjure up to get her to keep on living. She had thought that her mother would think she was crazy but she hadn't thought it was all that strange that Tai would try to contact his dying mother in an attempt to snap her into self preservation mode so that they both didn't die.

Kagome never knew how it was that her mum got back to the house in time to save her, even if she had broken the speed limit. Maybe she hadn't been that far away from home at the time or she hadn't cut deep enough with the knife. Maybe the fact that she put pressure on her wrist, or that she hadn't actually cut her second wrist. There was any number of reasons why she had managed to hang on long enough for her mother to save her but there were just as many reasons for her not lasting that long. She couldn't be sure but she always wondered if maybe it was her mate's mark that made it possible for her cling to life, that Inuyasha wasn't willing to let her go and neither was the life that was growing inside her.

Combined the two were too strong even then to let her go…


	2. Another Job Interview

**Chapter Two** – Feeling Alone

**I'm re-writing this chapter next, so hopefully I'll get back into the flow and write some new chapters after I finish re-writing this. I hope that people enjoy reading this story and drop me a line letting me know what you think. Review please.**

**Dreams and Flash backs are in _italics._**

* * *

Kagome sighed softly and resisted the urge to bury herself further under the covers and ignore the sound of the alarm clock, but she knew she couldn't do that so instead she felt along the bedside table for the alarm clock that was beeping incessantly at her, telling her that it was time to get up and start getting ready now. She really hated alarm clocks. She'd swear that they were evil inventions though sadly they were a necessary evil when you didn't want to oversleep. So Kagome pried her eyes open grumbling softly about the unfairness of having to wake up at such an early hour as she turned it off and kicked the sheets away from her legs before sliding out of bed.

It was yet another day to look for more non-existent jobs in the newspapers and websites she thought morosely, sometimes it seemed like it wasn't worth the time, effort and energy that she put into all this job searching but deep down she knew that it was. She wasn't going to find anything if she didn't at least try but it was disheartening because it was almost impossible to find a job for a twenty-two year old single mother with hardly any experience relevant to this era. Sure she had nursing experience but in this era you needed a degree and she couldn't exactly tell them where she'd gotten her experience either. And she didn't want to do more study, what she needed was a job so that she could get some income and support herself.

Her mother had been so supportive since Taishi was born. She had helped Kagome look after him and to go back to school to get her Higher School Certificate and through a night course for business administration course. And thanks to the fact her mother was happy to take care of Taishi so she didn't have to worry about childcare costs or a way to cover his matching ashen coloured ears. He was definitely Inuyasha's son, with his long ash-blonde hair, matching little dog-ears and golden-brown eyes he was almost the splitting image of his father except his colouring was more toned down. Taishi was going to be turning four this coming November.

She quietly walked over to Taishi's bed and watched him sleep for a few minutes, a rare smile crossing her face as she watched him. He was so cute and innocent laying there sleeping. He had gotten used to the sound of the alarm clock and the sunshine, choosing now to snuggle his head into the pillow and fling one of his little arms over his ears to try block out the noise. She allowed him to keep sleeping and turned away, heading to the bathroom to shower and get ready for another long day.

Kagome got undressed before turning on the water. After waiting until the temperature was right she stepped under the hot spray of water, her body slowly relaxing as the water cascaded over her like a waterfall. This was her secret haven, the only place that she could let herself consciously break down and cry because Tai's nose wouldn't pick up the traces of salt and tears on her afterwards. A soft sob escaped her and the tears mixed with the water as she wished Inuyasha would come for her and Taishi. Even after all these years her heart still ached for him and she would welcome him back happily - sure she would yell and scream at him about him being a stupid idiot throwing her down the damn well and leaving them for years but she'd also demand that he never leave her again. But as the days, weeks, months and years passed by her hope was slowly fading away that he would actually come take them back to the Feudal era.

Turning off the taps she stepped out of the shower, the mirror caught her gaze and she moved closer to the mirror. Her fingers moving to brush away the damp wavy ebony strands that reached past her waist now to press lightly against the mark that Inuyasha had given her, she knew he had loved her because he wouldn't have marked her if that was the case. It had been to protect her from Naraku...but why hadn't he come for them? It had been over three years now, they should have succeeded by now and she wouldn't even contemplate the possibility of him dying. But Tai was an inquisitive boy and she knew that soon he was going to start asking more questions about his father…but what should she tell him? She could tell him all about his bravery and the things that they had done in the past but she didn't know what she could say should he ask why his father wasn't there with them…she herself wasn't even sure why he wasn't in their lives.

She looked into the mirror idly, taking in the differences in herself. Her hair was longer now; her skin was still fair and her figure was even more feminine and curvier after the pregnancy. Her chocolate brown eyes weren't as happy as they used to be they looked older, showing that she had seen a lot more than the average twenty-two year old - full of knowledge, love and a hint of sadness. She was no longer a girl and she wondered if Inuyasha or the others looked any different…

*** Scene Change ***

They arrived at the shrine at eight o'clock as planned. Her mother, grandfather and Souta still lived there despite the fact that she had moved out a year after Taishi was born and she felt she could look after him by herself because the shrine held too many memories for her to live there. And in the last few years since Tai was born she had made an effort to have at least a bit of a social life and had started catching up more often with her friends from school. The only thing she did reject outright was any attempts at matchmaking because she didn't want any other guy in her life, besides it would be cheating without the proof that Inuyasha didn't want her anymore she couldn't on good conscious date anyone else, being his mate was like being married.

"Thanks for looking after him Mum," Kagome said after giving her mother a hug. She hoped that Taishi was going to behave. He was adorable as a rule except when he got into a mischievous mood and started pulling pranks. Kagome was pretty sure that was Souta's bad influence on him though he was stubborn as well, thanks to him having two especially stubborn parents. Even now she found it hard and did her best to stay clear of the places that held their memories, especially the Bone Eaters Well. However she did like to spend time at the Sacred Tree still, it helped to clear her mind and to feel closer to Inuyasha when she really needed to.

"It's fine," Mrs Higarashi said with a smile as she watched Tai who was looking adorable despite a few protests about the clothes he was wearing - like Inuyasha the young boy didn't like being in tight fitting clothing. "You know I love spending time with my only grandson."

"You'll be good for Grandma won't you Taishi?" Kagome said as she stroked his soft ashen ears and gave him a quick cuddle before he could complain about it. Another thing he had in common with his father was the fact that despite the fact it was obviously nice having his ears stroked he had begun to complain about them touching them. "Try stay out of trouble and don't cause your Grandma to worry too much."

"Yes Mummy!" he said with a grin, wrapping his arms around her neck as he hugged her back before he broke away from her and skipped over to his grandmother and took her hand. "Love you Mummy! Be safe!"

"Love you too sweetie," she said softly as they walked away from her and towards the shrine, but she knew that he would be able to hear her. She turned and walked back down the stairs to the bus stop she needed to get to the job agency to find out the details for an interview she had that afternoon. It seemed the only thing stopping her from snagging a job was her lack of experience, she never seemed to get further than the interviewing stage and it was getting very frustrating to say the least...

Hours later found Kagome looking up in awe at the building she was supposed to have her interview at - it was huge! She couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive about the idea of going inside for an interview, let alone working here permanently. Last week she had actually gotten the tip initially from her friend that InuTaisho & Co. was looking for a receptionist so she had followed it up with the agency. The company was well known and it had a high reputation for both its work and how it treats its employees, and if that wasn't enough the salary package was to die for. She would be able to finally afford a car and be able to move out of her tiny one bedroom apartment and find something nicer.

Taking a deep breath she steeled herself and made her way up the path and through the door. She gasped out loud at the décor, she had no idea how much the company was worth but from the looks of things it must be worth a fortune. Shaking her head slightly she chastised herself, she had to be professional about this or she wasn't going to have a chance at getting this job. Forcing herself back into a professional frame of mind she glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand before continuing to the elevator, once inside she nervously smoothed down her forest green skirt and matching jacket before stepping out of the elevator once it reached the tenth floor. She tried not to pay attention to the luxurious fixtures of the room and instead concentrated purely on the job.

Kagome put a smile on her face and walked towards the receptionist at the front desk, who looked up as she approached, "Uh my name is Kagome Higarashi. I'm here for my one o'clock interview for the receptionist position."

"Ah yes, please take a seat Ms Higarashi," said the receptionist as she glanced down at what she assumed was an appointment book before she looked back up. Returning her smile she continued, "Mr InuTaisho will see you in a moment."

"Thanks," Kagome said with another smile before she walked over to one of the cream chairs near the wall and sat down. They were plush and quite comfortable, she assumed that this was one place where people wouldn't mind sitting and waiting for a while but as she waited she began to wonder just who this Mr InuTaisho was. She probably should have done a little bit more research on the company before the interview but she never really was the type to think about those things. The fact that his name was the same as the company's made her assume he was the owner or something as high up like the CEO, though either of those possibilities was quite frightening, she'd never had an interview with someone so high up or in a business this big and powerful. She really hoped that he wasn't one of those snobby, high and mighty employers who she couldn't stand at all, but the company had such a high reputation that she couldn't help but dismiss it. Besides she had to get the job first for that to even matter.

"Mr InuTaisho will see you now," the receptionist said pointing to the door to the right.

Kagome nodded and stood up. At least she'd managed to compose herself and get at least a little used to the luxurious surroundings before the interview, but when she got to the door she hesitated slightly, then with a deep breath she knocked on the door.

"Come in," came the quiet but obviously masculine reply.

Kagome pushed open the door and entered before walking quietly up to the desk though she couldn't see Mr InuTaisho since the chair was currently facing away from her, he was obviously staring out of the window at something. When she reached the desk she stood there waiting for him to turn around and tell her that she could sit down, though when he did turn around her brown eyes widened in complete and utter shock. There at a desk, as real as she was, sat a person she never thought she would ever see alive again. A tall man with long silver hair and golden eyes stared back at her. "Sess…Sesshomaru?" Kagome stuttered before she fainted.

Sesshomaru's reflexes had not slowed any in the last five hundred years. So he caught the dark-haired female before she reached the ground, which was just as well, humans were such fragile creatures. However, it did baffle him how this woman knew his name…

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**Yes the plot thickens! There are Youkai in this time as well after all… they're just very good at hiding the fact that they exist and I'm adding more characters to the mix, fear my evilness! Mwahaha! Lol, okay so I'm not really that evil coz I haven't done anything evil, but that was one of my random moments. I'd just like to say that I'm trying to keep Sesshomaru in character but since it's been 500 years I would assume that even Sesshy would change after all that time.**

**Reviews please!**


	3. Love Realised

**Chapter Three** – Feeling Alone

**I'm re-writing this chapter next, so hopefully I'll get back into the flow and write some new chapters after I finish re-writing this. I hope that people enjoy reading this story and drop me a line letting me know what you think. Hopefully the re-write will improve it and not ruin it in any way. Review please.**

**Dreams and Flash backs are in _italics._**

* * *

**Feudal Era - Three years ago**

After depositing Kagome and their unborn child into the well for their own safety Inuyasha trudged moodily through the forest and towards the village though he stopped part way there. He wasn't looking forward to the other's reactions to what he had done since they all cared about her as well, they on the other hand would think that he was just being stupid for doing it. He was fairly sure he knew exactly what those reactions would be and he wasn't looking forward to that confrontation at all. And Kagome would probably sit him so much his back was going to get put out, but it would be worth it if he could be sure that she would be safe and protected.

Looking around he found that he couldn't seem to get any pleasure out of the scenery now that Kagome wasn't by his side, the enjoyment and beauty of the forest seemed to be missing now that she was gone. The white-haired hanyou sighed softly, his white dog-ears drooping ever so slightly, he hadn't realised just how much he counted on her being there for him and without her there was a hole in his heart and his life. But he had almost lost her a number of times, he was just lucky that she seemed harder to kill than most humans. He could still remember the day he realised he loved her, that time as well he had been worried that he had figured it out too late. She had fallen to the ground in front of him, arrows piercing her chest and so much blood…the crimson had soaked the white material of her uniform so quickly it. He remembered the terror and pain that pierced his heart at the thought of losing her.

_"No! Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled from his position when he saw her fall to the ground barely conscious, blood was turning her school uniform crimson from the arrows imbedded in her body. He practically froze from the sight of her in such a condition. He had been fighting with another of Naraku's incarnations when Kagome's scream of pain had pierced his heart, he had quickly dispatched the incarnation in time to see her fall to the ground._

_"She is so weak Inuyasha. Why is it that you care for her so much? Why do you stay with her instead of fulfilling your promise to me?" A cold emotionless voice came from above him in the tree. The bow that had shot the arrows at Kagome still firmly gripped in her hand._

_"Kikyo!" he exclaimed, his voice full of disbelief. His golden gaze moved upwards to see the woman that he had once loved over fifty years ago when she was still alive, before Naraku played out his plot on them both. For almost two years he had stood up for her despite the ways that she had acted, the betrayal of stealing their part of the jewel and giving it to Naraku among other things. The little comments that Kagome made but would never explain…he had always believed that she had a pure purpose underneath it all. But why…why had she just shot Kagome with her arrows? _

_Emotionless brown eyes stared down at him, unmoved by the emotion that was moving across his face and visible in his eyes, caused from her actions. She didn't care…her humanity had long since been lost, she was no longer the woman she had been fifty years ago. Brought back into this world in a body made with soil and bones by the youkai, she had lost the majority of her soul to Kagome and the part that remained was the hate, pain and bitterness. She had tried to be happy as she moved between villages helping people, but it had given her little joy despite her attempts. She had found that Inuyasha was the only thing that had brought her any pleasure…toying with him and his group of friends and the idea of taking him to hell with her._

_"Kikyo…why?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he watched her. His eyes were flickering between gold and red as he attempted to rein in his flaring and warring emotions, his worry for Kagome and his flaring hatred for the woman that was before him right now. "She is your reincarnation!"_

_"Exactly," she replied as she climbed down the tree until she was closer to the ground and then jumped the remaining distance to land in front of him. "I tire of having to gather the souls of maidens to survive daily…I want my soul back once more, and you will never come to hell with me while she lives on this plane either. So I will kill two birds with one stone."_

_"No Kikyo…this is not you!" Inuyasha replied adamantly. He couldn't believe that the pure and caring woman that he had loved would act like this…how had she changed so drastically without him even noticing it? He glanced behind him and saw Kagome still lying so still where she had fallen only moments before, blood pooling around her on the grass. He had to help Kagome, he wouldn't let Kikyo kill her, but he couldn't kill Kikyo either…he still loved her. Didn't he?_

_"Inuyasha you're such a fool. This is me," Kikyo said with a laugh. "I am finally free of the jewels influence and I am able to be my own person, to do whatever it is that I wish. Free of all the bindings of being a priestess and my duty. I do not have to care about what it is that everyone else thinks that I should do or what it is that they think of me."_

_"No!" he practically yelled, silencing her words. Though in that split second it was as if everything had become crystal clear in his mind all of a sudden, that he'd come to grips with all of his feelings in that one moment. Kikyo was the past and Kagome, she was his present and future. When he continued to speak once more his voice was quieter this time, more calm. "No…Kikyo is dead, the real Kikyo died fifty years ago when she pinned me to the Sacred Tree. You…you're nothing compared to the real Kikyo. She was a wonderful, kind and generous woman. You're nothing but a doll made from grave yard soil and bones that looks identical to her…but you are not her."_

_"Don't you dare say those things to me! Who do you think you are?" she said furiously as he walked closer to her, though she was oblivious to the cold glint that now reflected in the golden depths of his eyes. "What can you do to me? It's not like you'd ever be able to actually kill me Inuyasha, and while I walk this earth you will never be able to forget-" she stopped mid sentence as she noticed just how close he had gotten to her and that his sword was now thrust straight through her middle. Her eyes were wide with shock as she looked downwards, disbelieving as he pulled the blade back out of her, leaving a gaping hole in her stomach. _

_Kikyo moved her hands to her stomach as if to stop the flow of blood, though there was none because she was made from soil and bone, she was merely a replica of a human. Though her life force was still slipping away from her because all of the maiden souls that kept her alive were escaping through the gaping wound in her stomach and she couldn't keep them inside. Aside from that, she would be unable to repair the damage done to this body because she had killed the youkai that created it long ago. _

_"In…Inu…yash…sha," she whispered, looking very much like a small lost child in that moment as she fell to her knees on the ground. She had already given up trying to stop the spirits from departing from her body, it was close to impossible and she didn't even bother to attempt to call her soul catchers._

_"Yes Kikyo?" Inuyasha asked softly, tears shining brightly in his eyes as he looked down at her. Right now she looked so close to being the real Kikyo…much more human and real despite the lack of blood staining her clothes from the wound. He couldn't help but feel the pang in his heart as he watched her, he was loosing his first love once again…but really he had already lost her fifty years ago._

_ "Did…did you really love me?" she asked softly from her position on her knees, though she swayed slightly as more orbs of light departed from her body. It was making her so weak that it was an effort to stay on her knees in an upright position. She knew that she had only moments left to live…_

_"Yes Kikyo," he said softly as he pulled her to his chest. "I loved you."_

_"I… loved you too Inuyasha," she said softly, her voice a whisper as the light slowly began to fade from her eyes. "I really did… love you…just as you were. I want… you to find…happiness, Inuyasha…be happy." With that said Kikyo died in his arms and the last bit of Kagome's soul returned to her._

_ Inuyasha quickly walked over to Kagome and picked her up carefully so as not to do any more harm to her or cause any more injuries than she already had. She needed immediate help and he had wasted too much time already, but when he turned to leave he knew that he couldn't leave Kikyo there either…she deserved better, to be buried once again. So he ran over and picked her up as well and ran as fast as he could back to Kaede's village._

_"What happened to all of ye?" Kaede asked when Inuyasha walked into the hut with both girls cradled in his arms and all three of them were bloody. Though when she pulled him further into the hut to examine them for their injuries she realised that one of them was Kikyo and she could sense that she was dead._

_"There was a fight…one of Naraku's incarnations, and while I was fighting it Kikyo found us and tried to kill Kagome…so I killed her. Kagome is badly injured though, she lost a lot of blood from the arrows," he said softly as he shifted the women in his arms and placed Kagome on the bed. "And, I thought you would like to bury Kikyo's remains again…so I brought her back too."_

_ "Thank ye Inuyasha," Kaede said softly before she began looking over Kagome's wounds. She was very glad that she would be finally able to lay her older sisters remains to rest once more._

_ "Feh, you don't have to thank me Kaede. I just did what was necessary when I realised how important Kagome was to me and that she was here now, while Kikyo…was dead." He muttered softly, his voice barely audible._

_"You must wait outside now Inuyasha so that I can attend to the girl," Kaede said softly as she steered the hanyou out of the room. Inuyasha left without another word, deep in thought. He loved Kagome. _

Inuyasha's eyes were distant as he stared out over the forest, not seeing what surrounded him, he sighed softly, his white dog-ears twitching slightly every now and then despite his lack of concentration on what was going on around him. His instincts were still at the forefront, his ears catching all of the natural noises that filled the forest. His thoughts were turned inwards and back to the past, reminiscing on all the things that he and Kagome had been through in the last three years. He wasn't sure how he'd been so blind to his feelings for Kagome for so long, he had been so caught up with Kikyo and the past that he hadn't seen what was right in front of him the whole time. To see the person standing right beside him, someone who cared and stood by him and had never once looked down on him despite him being a hanyou.

His golden gaze finally coming into focus when a sound behind him snapped him to attention, his hand moving to the sword at his waist as he turned around but it was only a fox disappearing through the underbrush. He made a soft sound of annoyance and continued through the forest until he reached the Sacred Tree, looking up into its branches he could see that it was already starting to get dark and it would be sunset soon. In a moment he'd already jumped into the branches and was making his way up towards the top, in minutes he positioned himself comfortably in a branch a little higher than mid way. He gazed out over the sky, his long silver-white hair blowing in the wind as he watched the sunset from his vantage point. Kagome had always enjoyed sunsets…

_Kagome walked away from the camp and towards the hill, it had to be one of the most beautiful places that she had ever seen…it was covered in flowers of all the hues that you could imagine and the few from the hill was breathtaking. She sat down amid the flowers and leaned back against a large old tree to watch the sunset of fire and gold that painted across the sky in bold brush strokes. She had always loved sunsets…the way that the colours splashed and ran over the sky in abandon, almost like a master painter had just run his paintbrush over the sky. Today, this sunset somehow reminded her of Inuyasha._

_ Kagome sighed softly as her mind wandered as it often did when she had time alone to think. She loved Inuyasha so much and she had loved him for years now…but despite everything he seemed fixated to always looking back at the past and never at the present or future. Hope was something that she clung to desperately, it was her life raft in the sea of uncertainty and doubt but it could only last for so long. She had almost given up hope of him ever loving her back and actually seeing her there, standing beside him…that is until Inuyasha killed Kikyo when she had shot and almost killed her. Though she still wasn't really sure if that meant that he loved her or not, because she wasn't sure what had happened between the two after she passed out from the pain and loss of blood._

_"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked hesitantly, having decided to follow her when he saw her wander off to the hill to look at the sunset. He was uncomfortable and ill at ease as he stood there not quite sure what to say so her, it was the night of the new moon and his emotions seemed to keep running out of check. Especially his feelings for her kept washing over him…he'd realised that he loved her but he could never bring himself to actually say the words out loud to her despite trying._

_"Yes Inuyasha?" she asked looking up just as the sun dipped below the horizon, just in time to witness him reverting to his human form. He was quite cute in his human form as well, the dark hair and dark blue eyes…plus he was kinda nicer when he was in human form and closer to his human emotions. She wondered if he completely ignored them when he was in his regular hanyou form. Though she wouldn't change him for anything, she loved him completely just as he was._

_"I…uh, I just wanted to…" he stuttered uncertainly before going quiet. She patted the ground beside her and he sat down on the ground beside her without another word, he glanced over at her once more as he tried to work out what it was that he wanted to say to her. With a sound of frustration he went to stand up again, "Oh never mind…"_

_Kagome laughed softly and grabbed hold of his hand, tugging him back to his earlier sitting position before she moved a little closer to him on the hill. She turned back to the sky and said, "Relax Inuyasha, sit with me for a while. Don't you think that the sunset is pretty?"_

_"Feh…I guess so," he replied softly as he looked at the sunset and let her pull him back down again. After he got settled once more amid the flowers and gazed at the sunset that she'd been talking about, his fingers unconsciously twined loosely with hers. Kagome sighed softly, it was so romantic and she couldn't help but be tempted to tell him that she loved him in this setting, but she wouldn't. She didn't want to ruin the relationship that they already had with blurting out something like that, she didn't want to make him run away from her. They sat there in companionable silence watching as the colours changed across the sky until it finally faded and turned a deep blue and the stars came out one by one. Finally Kagome broke the silence, "Inuyasha?"_

_He turned his head and looked at her, "Yea? What is it?"_

_"I…just wanted to say, thanks for saving my life again," she said softly though she kept her gaze firmly fixed on the sky. This was the first time either of them had brought up the subject of what happened on that day. "I know it couldn't have been easy for you…"_

_"Feh, it wasn't Kikyo…not really," he said softly not looking at her either. "She died a long time ago and deep down we both knew that, but at least we were both able to talk and get closure this time…not like fifty years ago." Inuyasha blinked slightly at the tears that filled his eyes and began to blur his vision, damn stupid human emotions! He thought angrily as he rubbed them away with his sleeve._

_"Oh? You both…talked?" she asked biting her lip. She didn't want to pry really…and deep down she wasn't really sure if she wanted to know what had happened, but at the same time she couldn't help but be curious. She had no idea what had happened after she had fainted from the pain and multiple arrow wounds and that was a month ago. The only thing she was certain of was that at the end of the battle she was alive and Kikyo was dead…_

_"Yeah, we talked as she died…" he said softly as a tear managed to make its way down his cheek despite his attempts at getting rid of them only moments before. Inuyasha frowned and scrubbed at his face and eyes with his sleeve, cursing inwards about the stupid human emotion._

_"Oh," she said softly as she saw the tear run down his face before he wiped it away. She realised that he'd probably never cried for Kikyo until now, Inuyasha wasn't the type to show that kind of emotion at all and the only time he probably couldn't hide it was during his human night when all the emotion hit him. Obviously he missed and mounded for Kikyo…she'd known she'd never be able to compete with her deep down, but it still hurt._

_"Yea…she said that she really had loved me and that she wanted me to find happiness," he said in a soft far away voice before he turned to look at her once more, their eyes meeting as he said the second part. "She wanted me to be happy…and you…you make me happy Kagome."_

_"Oh…wait…huh?" Kagome asked, not quite sure what it was that he was meaning behind that statement. Sure she knew what she wanted it to mean…but knowing Inuyasha it wasn't a good idea to assume that he had meant that he loved her or anything like that. "I… uh…love you," Inuyasha said softly as he stared at the ground._

_"You do?" she asked her, joy vied with scepticism as she watched him and tears began to pool in the depths of her eyes. He flinched slightly at the sight of the tears, he'd known that she'd cared about him but maybe he was wrong with his assumption that she loved him. He shouldn't have said anything. "I love you too Inuyasha!" she said throwing herself into his arms and wrapping her own arms around his neck._

_"You…you do?" he asked her. His surprise and uncertainty was visible in his voice and eyes as he watched her. "Then why are you crying?"_

_"I'm just so happy…I didn't think that you'd ever tell me that you loved me," Kagome said laughing now through the tears that still clung to her dark lashes and the unshed tears that were pooled in the depths of her eyes. She hesitantly moved a hand up to cup his cheek, running her thumb lightly across his skin as she gazed up at him._

_"Oh…" he said, slightly taking aback by her strange reaction and he wasn't really sure what he should do about the fact that she was crying – he really hated it when she cried. He would probably never understand her, but if she said she was happy he would believe her. "Well…I'm glad then. That you're happy," he said softly as he looked down at her, his gaze travelling from her tear-drenched brown eyes to her pink lips and he couldn't help but bend his head and kiss her. A kiss that was full of love, and other emotions that couldn't be explained in words._

With a soft sigh Inuyasha shook the memories away and jumped back down from the tree so that he could continue back to the village. He could only linger so long before he had to go back, he just hoped that he wouldn't regret what he'd done though to be honest deep down he already regretted it. He wanted to run back to the well and bring her back but he knew that he couldn't, it was too dangerous for her and the pup and he wanted more than anything for them to be safe. He couldn't see her die.

"Inuyasha, you're back already? Where's Kagome?" Sango called out to him when she saw him walking towards the village, she was leaning against one of the trees in the outskirts of the town cleaning her weapons. Inuyasha could have cursed his utterly terrible luck…Sango was the worst person to have to explain what happened to. She was going to have a fit when she found out that he'd thrown Kagome back into the well with now way back, she'd probably throw lots of things at him too.

"Kagome went back to her time," Inuyasha replied though his voice was a bit more subdued than usual. He turned to go once more hoping that maybe that answer would suffice for now…he didn't really want to answer these questions right now, really he'd rather stay away from them all for a while so he didn't have to explain his actions. Maybe that's what he should have done in the first place, just stay away from them all and hide in the forest or something…

"Really?" Sango asked as she put her now cleaned sword back into its sheath, though she left Hiraikotsu on the grass beside her. She was quite surprised that Inuyasha had not gone with Kagome to her era since he could go through the well too and he seemed to enjoy it over there. Plus the two had barely left each others sides since they had declared their love and become mates over the last few months…she hoped that she could find that special someone one day. Maybe Miroku…she shook the thought away, a faint blush staining her cheeks at her thoughts, "Uh…so when should she be coming back?"

"Not for a while…she has tests and stuff," he muttered scuffing his foot on the ground slightly. He hadn't known it would be this uncomfortable to actually tell them what happened, he hadn't planned on lying to them…after all its not like he could keep the lie for very long. They would think it was very suspicious when she didn't come back for a few days and they would either tell him to go and find out what was wrong or demand to know if they'd had a fight or something. Plus they wouldn't leave Kaede's village without her unless he told them the truth…that she wasn't coming.

"What?" Sango asked since she hadn't been able to catch his muttered reply.

"I said that she wouldn't be back for a while!" he said again though maybe it was a little too loud this time. Inuyasha looked over at her once more and he wasn't sure if it was his overwhelming feelings of guilt but he was sure that she could see right through him and barely concealed lies.

"Inuyasha what aren't you telling me?" Sango asked suspiciously and her chocolate brown eyes narrowed slightly as she watched him carefully, trying to pick up on what it was that he was hiding and the hanyou had to resist the urge to fidget under that gaze...right now he was seriously weighing up the option of just leaving them all to work it out on their own and not come back for a few days.

Crossing his arms over his chest he turned away from her, "Feh, I don't know what you're talking about Sango…you're just imagining things."

A tall, dark haired man in purple robes walked over to the pair with a smile, "You've come back already Inuyasha?" Miroku said before looking around the clearing in search for Kagome only to find her missing, "Where is Kagome?"

"That's what I asked him," Sango said glaring at the hanyou though it did little good since he was obviously ignoring all the glaring going his way. Huffing softly she crossed her arms over her chest and added, "He said that she went back to her own time by herself."

"I thought you would have gone with her," the Monk said slightly bemused at this sudden turn of events of Inuyasha actually choosing to leave her back in her time by herself. "You haven't really left each others sides since you confessed your love to each other months ago."

"And he doesn't know when she will be back," Sango said with a raised eyebrow. "Usually you never let her go to her side of the well unless you have a firm time line of when she's coming back and even then you usually drag her back earlier than planned…why is it different this time?"

"Feh," he muttered softly before he jumped up into the nearest tree. Though he did continue to watch them from his perch, this conversation wasn't going so well…he was fairly sure that the slayer was going to be able to work out what was going on if she thought about it long enough and he wasn't sure he wanted to be there when she did. "What you trying to imply Slayer?"

"I'm saying that maybe there is something going on that we should know about!" she yelled at him. Her chocolate brown eyes were blazing brightly in her anger and Miroku inched away from her, definitely not wanting to be on the receiving end of her anger today. He was actually glad that it wasn't directed at him this time but he didn't want to be too close to her anyway…just encase he caused it to get directed to himself.

"Feh, the wench will be fine," he said looking away from them. Sango's eyes narrowed slightly from his comment, he had stopped calling her names a while ago except for when the two had their occasional fights. There was definitely something going on here she just wasn't sure what it was. She wondered if perhaps the two of them had had their first lovers quarrel or something, though when she saw something in his hand sparkle in the dappled sunlight her eyes widened because she knew.

"You're such an idiot Inuyasha!" She yelled at him with tears in her eyes before she picked up and threw Hiraikotsu at him and he quickly jumped out of the way. "You took the jewel away from her so that she can't come back!"

"Why?" Miroku asked softly, confusion visible in his violet eyes as he watched the hanyou. He then glanced over at Sango who was still obviously upset at these events; he walked over to her and cautiously took her in his arms to comfort her. Even he could tell it wasn't a good time to try groping her. When she didn't try hitting him or some other form of abuse he looked back at Inuyasha.

"Because I love her…" Inuyasha said gruffly, not looking at the others as he spoke he instead stared at the sky as he continued. "It's too dangerous with Naraku still around… I don't want her to die; it's safer in her time for now." He finished and not waiting to hear any more from them Inuyasha turned and left the village, running quickly he jumped from tree to tree as he increased the distance between them. Ignoring the yelling and them calling for him to come back he continued and left the village, he didn't want to talk to them about it anymore. Finally he reached the Sacred Tree that he had been pinned to for fifty years and he stopped, looking up into its tall branches he wondered if maybe he had made a mistake. Maybe he should go and get her from her side of the well and apologise, but he was just trying to keep his family safe. Didn't that count for anything?

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**Yea…I wasn't quite sure what colour Inuyasha's eyes are in his human form. My brother said black, and I see lots of pictures of them brown…but I thought that they were a dark blue. I'll have to re-watch some episodes where he transforms.**

**And I've been melding chapters together because I think I'd been cutting them too short and they could have gone longer, since previously my chapters were all only around 2000 words my later ones were longer. So thus the melding, hopefully people aren't getting sick of flash backs.**


	4. Flawed Decision

**Chapter Four** – Feeling Alone

**I'm re-writing this chapter next, so hopefully I'll get back into the flow and write some new chapters after I finish re-writing this. I hope that people enjoy reading this story and drop me a line letting me know what you think. Hopefully the re-write will improve it and not ruin it in any way. Review please.  
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**Dreams and Flash backs are in _italics._**

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**Feudal Era** – two years ago (1 year from the current setting)

Inuyasha stood forlornly by the well. It had been over two years since he had seen Kagome and he had forced her and their pup down the well for what seemed to be their own good and protection. He had been worried that with all the dangers that their group encountered weekly that it was no place for his pregnant mate…he couldn't be completely sure that he would always be there to protect her if they were being attacked by Naraku or his incarnations. Also he had been worried that when she was getting towards the end of the pregnancy she would be such an easy target for enemies and Naraku might have attempted to kidnap her or use her in some way against him. Plus he knew that the medicine in Kagome's world was superior, in his time women were still regularly lost in childbirth so there was a greater chance of the survival for both of them in her time.

He had actually thought it through a lot though the others had thought he was just acting without thinking again, but in the end Sango and the others had agreed that what he had done was for her own good when he had told them some of the reasons behind it – like the fact she was pregnant. He was glad she hadn't been around for the last two years because they had been full of fighting, killing and bloodshed. The rest of the group was used to the violence and bloodshed that had occupied them through those hard years because that was just how their world was, whereas Kagome's time was different. It especially wasn't the kind of environment for a baby either.

Admittedly without her it had become quite difficult to find the jewel shards before Naraku did. Their group against Naraku had grown and decreased as people joined and left the group as time passed. Koga had decided to team up with the group despite the arguments that he and Inuyasha still had over numerous things…their rivalry hadn't seemed to lessen at all despite the fact that Kagome was no longer in this time or the fact he was Inuyasha's mate. But though Koga had made a fuss over the fact that Kagome was supposed to be his woman he hadn't made any move to interfere with things, it seemed he had finally realised that she didn't love him in that way and he had turned his affections elsewhere.

Sesshomaru also had decided to team up with the group though it was unlikely that he would have ever actually admitted the fact that they had teamed up, but the important thing was that they were on the same team for once and Sesshomaru was a formidable ally, someone you could be glad not to be fighting against, but at the same time, the two brothers still didn't get along that well…they fought just as much as Koga and Inuyasha did. Though it seemed that perhaps they weren't fighting quite as much as they used to, which might have been seen as an improvement…perhaps.

They also finally managed to rescue Kohaku from Naraku's grasp and mind control, despite the fact that his mental state was fragile to start with when he remembered everything that Naraku had suppressed. To begin with Sango had taken her brother back to the village while he recuperated and with love and care, she had managed to bring him around in a month or two so that they could rejoin the others. Though with time she realised what she had already known before all of this started, her brother was – despite his obvious ability – too kind hearted to engage in battle after battle.

Sango eventually brought up the fact that she wanted to send Kohaku to elsewhere so that he wouldn't be forced to fight any longer, somewhere safe…but there was the question of where would it really be safe? And it would probably be a good idea to put Shippo somewhere safe as well since it was too dangerous for the kit to be on the battlefield constantly without the means to properly defend himself at his young age. Sesshomaru reluctantly offered to take both Shippo and Kohaku back to his castle to join Rin and Jaken who he had already sent back months ago, which worked out well since the three seemed to get along and they would be good playmates for the girl.

There wasn't a day that went by that Inuyasha didn't miss Kagome and their child, he thought about them every day and right now he couldn't help but curse himself for his choice of action that day. He missed her and his pup desperately. Naraku still had yet to be defeated and sometimes he wondered if they would ever manage to get rid of him because no matter how hard they tried they never seemed to be able to. It was possible that he wouldn't be defeated in his life time and he had sent Kagome away out of his reach... perhaps the pain wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't taken her as his mate but he wouldn't take it back for anything, he loved her and wanted everyone to know. It had taken years for everything to work out for them and he didn't want to waste any time or have anyone try to take her away.

_"Hey Inuyasha," Kagome said sleepily as she woke up in Inuyasha's arms. Shifting slightly a groan escaped her lips at the same moment, her body still protesting at the minute movement because her body was still sore and aching. Her soft, sleepy voice pulled him from his own musings and caused a small smile to curve his lips. Inuyasha glanced over to her, his golden gaze meeting her brown sleepy gaze before his own gaze softened slightly as he took in the woman lying in his arms. Though he did not miss her pained response when she attempted to shift position in his arms, it was obvious that she was still sore from the last battle. _

_"Hi to you too…" he said softly._

_"Inuyasha…do you want to be with me forever?" Kagome asked her voice hesitant and unsure as she said the words. She didn't dare meet his gaze as she asked or even afterwards, instead her gaze steadily avoided his. Despite the declaration of love on both their parts she still couldn't help worrying that he would change his mind or take it back._

_"Of course I do," he replied and it was reassuring to her that he hadn't had to think about the answer. He brought a hand up and gently tipped her face upwards so that he could brush his lips lightly across hers before meeting her eye, "Why are you asking?"_

_"Oh…it's just that we've been together almost a year now and I'm turning eighteen soon…and I was…" she trailed off slightly, unsure as to how to express what she was thinking and feeling. Inuyasha looked at her silently, waiting for her to continue, funny how he'd managed to gain a little patience while they'd been dating…but only a little. "I was thinking about marriage and…well stuff."_

_"Mar-rid-ge?" he asked her with a frown. He didn't think he'd heard that word mentioned before, though at the same time he had a niggly feeling that he'd heard her mention it before to Sango but he still wasn't sure what that word meant. "What's that?"_

_"It's a human ceremony that you do in front of your friends and family. It shows your commitment and love for each other and that you want to be together forever…or at least that's how I think of it anyway," she explained to him softly and as simply as she could._

_"Oh…so you want to become my mate?" he said almost to himself. He was relieved that he understood what it was that she was talking about after all, he'd thought maybe it was some weird custom that they'd come up with in the future, but if it was the same as becoming mates then it couldn't be so bad._

_"No!" she said angrily and turned away from him, crossing her arms over her middle as she did so. "I can't believe you just said that to me Inuyasha! Mating has nothing to do with marriage, mating is just…just about SEX! I'm not talking about sex I'm talking about commitment and showing everyone that we love each other!" _

_"It is not all about sex!" Inuyasha replied his temper flaring in response to her own outburst and the fact that she'd misunderstood his words and instead had taken them as an insult. "Don't you listen to anything at all?"_

_"Oh so now I'm stupid am I?" she said with tears forming in her eyes. "SIT!"_

_"I never said that," he said with a growl as he attempted to pull himself up off the ground without much success and with a sigh he resigned himself to staying where he was until the subjugation spell wore off. Despite the impact from the spell and the fact he was angry at her, he couldn't help but feel the impulse to pull her into his arms and kiss her tears away. He wasn't doing that though. Not yet, they were in the middle of a fight after all, which was her fault for misunderstanding him. "But you could listen to me once in a while!"_

_"Well explain it to me already," she growled back sparks flying from her eyes._

_"Feh," he muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from her to show that he wasn't really talking to her but that he was purely to show her that she was wrong. Though he couldn't resist glancing at her every now and then as he explained, "For your information I said become my mate not mating, which is completely different. Demons, Inu demons especially choose one partner and they become mates for life, until one of them dies, though sometimes both of the demons die. The other usually follows them in death because they don't cope with losing their mate…but it depends on their relationship and circumstance. Some mourn and then find another partner."_

_"Oh," Kagome said taken aback slightly at the fact that she had been wrong in her quick judgement and misinterpretation of what Inuyasha had been saying to her. Looking away she added sheepishly, "Sorry…I didn't mean to jump to the wrong conclusion."_

_"Yeah, so you should be," he added almost huffily. He was still upset with her for jumping to conclusions, but especially for sitting him since he hadn't done anything to deserve it. He looked up to see her approaching him slowly but he attempted to ignore her, that is until she started rubbing his ears and he couldn't help but make a soft noise of appreciation._

_"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked softly as she moved behind him and continued to rub his ears. "I'd love to be your mate," she whispered into one fluffy white appendage as she continued to lightly massage and rub them._

_"Hmm…?" he said opening one eye slightly so that he could look at her. He wasn't really thinking very well with the fact that she was attacking his very sensitive ears, but attacking them in a good way. "What did you say?"_

_"I said that I want to be your mate," she said with a laugh and ceased playing with his ears for a few minutes so she wouldn't distract his attention away from what they were saying._

_"You do? Really?" he asked her. He was quite surprised at the quickness of her agreement since she didn't even know what the ceremony consisted of and she'd already agreed to it. He was also slightly uncertain of the whole thing, since he didn't really know all the details…but he had a fairly good idea. _

_"Yep," she said softly and he hugged her close. She laughed softly and snuggled against him, a soft blush covered her cheeks and she stuttered slightly, "so…um…when did you want to…how do we?"_

A major fight had occurred only a week ago, their group against Naraku's vast forces and with their own combined forces they had actually managed to wipe out a large percentage of them without losing anyone on their side. However, the price of that victory was still too high…sure they hadn't lost any lives but instead they had lost the portion of the jewel that they had collected which meant that Naraku very likely had the whole of the sacred jewel now or very close to it. Though surprisingly, Naraku had vanished without a trace. At first he hadn't been that worried by the fact that the jewel was taken except it meant their enemy had almost all of the jewel and without Kagome they couldn't determine whether there were any more stray fragments out there or the location of the jewel, which would give away Naraku's position.

The fact that Naraku had disappeared into hiding and there was nothing they could do at the moment prompted him into going on a long overdue visit to see Kagome and their child. Deep down he hated the fact he had left them alone so long and he had missed so much…but he still felt that it had to have been better for them than what they would have witnessed in the Feudal Era especially since the battlefield was no place for a newborn child. He imagined though that he would be receiving at least a dozen sits and there would be a lot of yelling and probably crying, the thought alone was enough to cause him to flinch slightly and his white dog-ears to droop but he wouldn't put it off any longer so after telling the others where he was going he turned to leave without waiting to hear their comments on the idea, he was fairly sure all of them would approve of the idea anyway.

Kagome had never really gotten an explanation on why she was thrust back home all of a sudden and she deserved an explanation even if it was very late coming. He loved Kagome and their pup and he wanted to see them both and hold them in his arms while he apologised, even though he knew that he couldn't make it up to them in words alone.

Bracing himself he stood on the edge of the well and without another chance to hesitate he jumped down into the well, but there had been no blue flash of magic and he quickly reached the bottom of the well. With a frown he jumped back out of the well and looked around only to find that he was definitely still in the Feudal Era. He was puzzled by this and a worried light appeared in his golden eyes but no matter how many times he jumped down the well it wouldn't take him to Kagome.

Finally he fell to his knees beside the well and a soft whimper left his lips and his golden eyes filled with tears and the pain of loss, he couldn't stop himself from slamming his fist into the ground beside him as a stray tear trickled down his cheek. Damn it…why had he sent her away to somewhere even he couldn't reach her? He hadn't even thought of the fact that maybe he or Kagome needed to at least have one shard of the jewel to operate it…he had gotten so used to always being able to get through the well when Kagome was in her time that he hadn't thought any further than that. In the beginning when she had lost their only shard to Yura of the hair he had still been able to go through the well to drag her back…had that been just a fluke? He had thought he could still get through the well without the jewel but it seemed that Naraku had vanished…taking with him the only chance he had of getting Kagome back.


	5. Lost Will

**Chapter Five** – Feeling Alone

**I'm re-writing this chapter next, so hopefully I'll get back into the flow and write some new chapters after I finish re-writing this. I hope that people enjoy reading this story and drop me a line letting me know what you think. Hopefully the re-write will improve it and not ruin it in any way. Review please. I thank my reviewers so far, your reviews mean a lot to me 3**

**Dreams and Flash backs are in _italics._**

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**IN THE FEUDAL ERA – PRESENT**

The group had followed the rumours of Naraku and his various incarnations until they had finally managed to locate the position of his castle and then they came up with the plan. They had managed to gain the help of a kitsune youkai and with her help they were able to sneak up on him by using Kitsune magic to change their auras and make themselves appear to be mere inconspicuous humans, but even with their surprise attack the battle had lasted for hours.

Inuyasha looked around the body-strewn battlefield for the familiar faces of his friends and comrades, though without much success. It was now twilight and the stars were starting to fill the sky while the blood red sunset was long forgotten by those standing on the battlefield. Though the group was surprisingly subdued as their thoughts lingered on the losses that all the fighting had caused and on the intense final battle itself that had waged on between their group and Naraku's for what felt like forever. They had just won the final battle and defeated Naraku, but it was also likely that the reality of that had yet to fully sink into any of them yet.

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha stood side by side on the battlefield, the silence was deafening but for once the pair weren't fighting amongst themselves, though that was likely because neither could be bothered to use the little energy they had left on such a futile thing and in addition the fact that neither were exactly in top form after the last battle either. It was a first to see Sesshomaru not his usual pristine self, obviously the battle had taken its toll even on him…but for once Inuyasha didn't have the time or energy to attempt to make fun of his older half-sibling despite the opportunity presented to him. He was actually more concerned about the fact that he couldn't make out the forms of his friends amongst the battlefield and a twinge of uneasiness crept down his spine before he shook it off.

He smelt the air, but it was difficult to distinguish their scent from the many other smells that filled the air, especially amongst the strong smell of blood and death that covered the battlefield. Finally he picked up on a scent and followed the familiar smell over to a formation of rocks but instead of finding Sango and Miroku, he instead found a panting wolf youkai cradling his broken arm while gashes covered a large portion of the rest of his body. Though it didn't seem like any of them were life threatening…with his youkai healing he should be fine within a few days and the minor ones would be gone within a few hours time. "You okay wolf?" Inuyasha asked him gruffly and Koga just nodded, he also was too tired to even bother talking or contemplate throwing insults.

Inuyasha sniffed the air once more and finally caught the Slayers scent; he followed their smell to the other side of the battlefield and what he found saddened him beyond all reason. Kilala in her large form was curled around the pair protectively while making sad mewing noises, but once she sensed that someone was approaching she growled at him though she ceased once she realised that it was him and instead made another sad mewling noise as she nuzzled Sango's cheek as if attempting to wake her up without success.

"No…" Inuyasha whispered as he fell to his knees in front of them and onto the blood soaked ground and tears welled up in his golden eyes as he looked at them. He couldn't be completely sure what had happened though he could guess at what had happened from their position and the fact that Sango had two wounds and Miroku only had one, but obviously Kilala had been preoccupied with fighting other youkai at the time and had been unable to help them. It looked like Sango had seen that Miroku was in danger and she had either pushed him out of the way or she'd attempted to block the attack only to be skewered through the stomach with the blade instead. Miroku had then grabbed her and dispatched the youkai that had stabbed her and then he had obviously been trying to protect them both as she died in his arms. Though another demon had obviously found an opening since Miroku was preoccupied and had sliced through them both with another sword, pinning them together in an eternal embrace. Kilala had obviously come to their aid as well at some point but had been unable to do anything but look after their bodies and protect them as they died and after they'd already gone.

He moved forward, running a hand softly over Kilala's neck as he murmured words of comfort in her ears and warning her about what it was that he was going to do. Gritting his teeth he pulled both of the swords out of their bodies, he couldn't stand to see them lying there like that…despite the almost sweet embrace it still made him feel ill to see the swords piercing them like that. A soft sound of something hitting the ground caught his attention and he glanced down, catching sight of the slightly tainted lavender jewel that had been the cause of all the problems. Reaching down he picked it up and looked down at the jewel that fit easily in his palm, it was strange that something this small had caused so much pain and problems. Sighing he muttered to himself, "I wish Naraku could never come back again…and all the people whose lives were taken by him and his incarnations would be brought back."

Though as soon as the words were spoken he could have bitten his tongue off, he hadn't meant to say the word wish…he hadn't meant to say anything at all but his mouth had run away with him and before he could even come to terms with it the jewel had disappeared from his palm, taking with it his only chance of getting back to Kagome. He had lost his only chance to see her once more by his own thoughtlessness, the only ray of happiness he got from it was the fact that Sango and Miroku had woken up in each others arms moments after the jewel disappeared. He was glad that they were alive again but he wished he'd thought about his wording more so that he could have at least wished Kagome and the pup to this side of the well at the same time…

Inuyasha had only stayed long enough to see Sango and Miroku wake up in each others arms, slightly confused at what had happened before he ran off and left everyone behind him. It was unlikely that they would work out what had really happened to cause him to run off like that, since Kilala couldn't talk and it wasn't likely that the two would remember their trip to the next life. It was possible though that they might piece together the blood and the last things they remembered from the battle to work out that they had been dead and obviously they had been brought back somehow which would lead them to thoughts of the wish on the Shikon jewel and what that meant. Though it was much more likely that they would just assume that he was racing back to the well to see Kagome and his child, they would be wrong though.

Yes he was going back to the well, but he was going there to confront the thing that he feared the most which was that his unintentional wish had completely sealed the well forever and successfully locking him away from Kagome and their child forever and this is where we find Inuyasha, sitting despondently next to the bone-eaters well as tears streamed down his face because he had used his only wish wisely despite the fact it was an accident. To make sure that Naraku didn't come back and also to bring everyone back that had died because of him…it was a pure wish that for the most part was completely unselfish, because it had come with a huge price for himself despite getting Sango and Miroku back. It was hard to know exactly who and how many people the jewel would bring back it was still nice to know that at least some of the people whose lives had been taken would be brought back once more and he was especially glad that Sango and Miroku were back, but now he was separated from his family.

Five hundred years was close enough to being forever and he couldn't pretend that he believed that he could live that long in general even with his demon blood, let alone live in solitude without his mate for that long…and he also knew from visiting her time that there were no demons anymore. It was completely hopeless and he had lost the only thing of any importance to him once again. Inuyasha didn't even bother to attempt to wipe the tears away, more of them would slide down as soon as he did and there was little point anyway. His heart ached painfully in his chest as he cried and eventually he passed out from fatigue from the fighting and injuries he sustained during the battle before he ran all the way to the well.

When he woke up again he couldn't be sure just how long he'd been out for, but for some reason he couldn't seem to care. There was no spark in his golden eyes, his eyes and face were closed off and almost emotionless…as if deep inside he had died already. The tears were now gone, a distant memory as he stood up once more and headed into the forest, he didn't know where he was going and didn't much care. He just wanted to find the nearest demon and let them rip him to shreds, who cared what happened to him? Kagome was gone…he wasn't going to be able to last long enough to see her again no matter what he did and this seemed to be the better of the options.

*** Scene Change ***

Sesshomaru was bored, not just slightly bored like was relatively normal in his day to day life since there were limited worthy opponents out there. Today he was full out completely and utterly bored as he wandered through the forest looking for a worthy opponent without much luck. Not that the Lord of the Western Land would let that emotion (or any other) be noticeably shown on his face or actually admit to feeling any of those emotions either. He had left to go back to his castle now that they had destroyed Naraku finally - the hanyou and his horde of allies had proved troublesome but had been eradicated all the same, but he had found himself restless and not wanting to return back to the castle yet. Though that could have also been related to the fact that the Slayer and Monk were already headed to his castle to retrieve the Kit and the Slayers younger sibling on the back of the fire Neko.

He had been relieved that they had not brought up the topic of travelling together. Sure they had his grudging respect after seeing them in battle before and during the time they had teamed up, but that didn't mean he wanted to travel with them. Even Inuyasha had become a fairly accomplished fighter in his own right and could even wield Tetsuseiga correctly, he thought grudgingly. Not that he would ever admit any of those things out loud of course.

His ears perked slightly and he came out of his inner musings when he recognised the sounds of battle only a few kilometres away to his right. He could really do with a fight, though like all of the others it was unlikely that they would be much of a challenge to him but in an attempt to quell his boredom he would fight with them maybe they would actually be a challenge this time. All of the enemies he had met so far had seemed so insignificant in comparison to Naraku and his incarnations that he'd been fighting for the last few years, but beggars couldn't be choosers… hopefully they would at least give him some relief from his boredom if only momentarily. So he picked up his speed towards the battle ahead though once he reached the clearing he couldn't help but think perhaps this was one lot of youkai he could have happily avoided.

Not because they were strong…no it was more the fact that they were a group of the ugliest, not to mention smelliest Youkai he had ever had the displeasure of meeting. Didn't they know what a bath was? He couldn't help but think as he tried to ignore the stench as he put one sleeve over his nose, though the movement was ineffective since the smell still easily wafted over to him and invaded his nose. Sesshomaru was almost always immaculate and clean when possible, he couldn't stand to be as a Lord but it also had to do with the sensitivity of his nose and sense of smell.

The youkai were at least eight feet tall and their bulky frames looked like they were covered in a greeny-brown slime, which could probably be accounted for the smell and why they were such a disgusting colour. They hadn't even noticed him yet, which was an insult in itself…his powerful aura should have been easily noticeable to them even before he arrived but they seemed completely preoccupied with punching, kicking and slicing into some defenceless thing that seemed to be laying on the ground. Though he couldn't tell what it was since they were all surrounding it, he was slightly curious about what could possibly distract their attention away from him…though his anger at the miserable creatures outweighed the curiosity. He was starting to get very pissed off with the group of demons. NO ONE IGNORED SESSHOMARU!

"Poison Whip!" Sesshomaru hissed causing the long fine whip to come out of his finger, which he then flicked with a flick of his wrist and easily disposed of one of the Youkai causing an inaudible sigh then passed his lips at the lack of challenge they presented. They were going to be unbelievably easy if they didn't even pick up on his presence….though it was a pity about the lack of energy and effort that it would require to take them out, but at least he could vent his annoyance on them. Without moving from his spot just in the clearing he dispatched another three of the youkai with another flick of his wrist and his Poison Whip before the remaining three finally noticed that he was there and that their comrades and brothers were dead. Angered by the loss they ran at him claws drawn, though of course they were no match for Sesshomaru who flicked the Whip around him in a semi-circle a few times as they ran towards him and they were dispatched as well. The battle had done nothing for his boredom and he was about to leave when curiosity got the better of him and he found himself walking over to the bloody form that the youkai had been hitting into and looked down.

"In…Inu…yasha?" Sesshomaru asked softly, unable to keep the slight look of surprise from his face and voice as he peered down at his younger sibling. Inuyasha was now covered in an array of scratches, gashes and bruises though he could easily tell it was him underneath it all. Sesshomaru couldn't help but wonder what had happened to him, his younger sibling could have beaten that group of misfits as easily as he had if he'd tried – they were basically as strong as each other despite Inuyasha being half demon. So why hadn't he? His brother had just saved the world and destroyed Naraku which is something that he should be happy about…instead of wallowing in pity or whatever it was he was doing right now.

"Fucking weak youkai…can't even do a good job at killing someone…waste of complete time." Inuyasha muttered as he struggled to breathe, despite the fact that they had done a crap job of killing him they'd still managed to do quite a number on him…since he hadn't had the intention of fighting back. Obviously his ribs had been broken and possibly pierced one of his lungs since it was so hard to breathe. Seriously he should have been a bit more picky about who he let kill him…it had been more like torture, a slow very painful attempt at killing him and now he could tell that someone was looking down at him, watching him and it annoyed the hell out of him.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" Inuyasha whispered, opening his eyes slightly. He saw Sesshomaru standing above him and wished he hadn't bothered with the effort. "Just leave me alone bastard…let me die in damn peace and go bother someone else," he muttered though the lack of fire in his voice and attitude made it less than threatening. He managed to turn himself on his side as coughs shook his frame and once they were over he spat out the blood in his mouth and lay back on his back once more, his breathing laboured.

"Why did you do this to yourself little brother?" Sesshomaru asked, frowning ever so slightly as he looked down at him. He was taken aback at the fact that Inuyasha had let himself get so injured by those weak youkai and he was curious as to what was the cause of it all, though he doubted he'd probably get much out of the hanyou at this point but more importantly what was he going to do about this? It wasn't as if he could leave him there like that, though a couple of years ago he would have gladly left him there to die and taken Tetsuseiga as well, but somehow in the last couple of years the resentment and hate towards the hanyou had faded into a distant memory. Now he just felt a… slight fondness to the last of his kin, not that he would admit it of course.

"What the hell do you care?" Inuyasha said panting softly, really it hurt too much to talk let alone move…why wouldn't the bastard just leave him alone already? He really should have thought more about his 'go find a demon and let them kill me' idea… he could have at least found one that could do a good job of killing him. Though then again, there probably weren't that many demons out there that could actually kill him unless he lay down and just let them.

"You will cease to talk to this Sesshomaru in that way," Sesshomaru said coldly and his eyes glinting dangerously. "I could squash you like a bug."

"I will speak to you however I damn well please," Inuyasha said rebelliously. "And I'd like to see you try it bastard." Another idea was slowly forming in his mind… maybe if he got Sesshomaru angry enough he'd kill him off. That would be better than lying there slowly dying…if the injuries even managed to kill him before his body fixed them all, he could already tell that his body was beginning to fix his lighter injuries. Sesshomaru was a great warrior, not that he would ever admit it out loud he'd die before giving his brother the satisfaction, but there wouldn't be any shame in dying by his hand.

"Don't push your luck little brother," he growled. Inuyasha was a hindrance, bothering him while he was attempting to think up a solution and what to do with him…though if he kept this up he would leave the annoyance here to die or finish him off himself.

"Or what? You'll kill me?" Inuyasha said with a strained laugh as he pushed himself up into a sitting position but he was leaning heavily against a tree behind him as he looked at Sesshomaru. "So what…I'm going to die anyway, whether you kill me here or not so it doesn't really matter to me."

Sesshomaru practically glowered at his younger brother when he made that statement, "So now that you have fulfilled your purpose of defeating Naraku you're going to throw your life away so haphazardly that it doesn't even matter to you? It would have been more honourable for you to die on the battlefield in the final battle than die here, killed by the wounds inflicted on you by those trash youkai. Why do you throw your life away so easily after fighting to keep it for so long?"

"Because…I have nothing left to live for anymore," Inuyasha stated his voice and eyes seemed empty when he said that, as if he was almost dead already at least emotionally and it was strange to see him like that. Inuyasha was always full of emotion and a blazing spark of life…it was unexpected to see him dulled to such an extent that he lacked the very emotion that seemed necessary to him as a rule. Ironically his lack of emotion reminded him of himself…he had learnt long ago that emotion was a weakness, and to show it gave others a weapon against him so he blocked it away so that no one could see it, but somehow it seemed so wrong for Inuyasha to act that way.

"What of the priestess that you sent away three years ago? She is not worth living for either?" he asked softly as he watched Inuyasha. He was unconsciously trying to find something to snap him out of his mood of self depression and self mutilation as well as answering his own curiosity.

"I have lost her…that is why I have nothing left to live for. I put her somewhere with the intention of keeping her safe from Naraku but all I did was successfully put her completely out of my reach," he said softly. A self mocking laugh escaped his lips as he met his brother's eyes. "She is somewhere that I cannot reach because the Shikon jewel is gone from this world….Kagome is five hundred years in the future. That is where she originated from, the Bone Eaters Well was the portal between both of our times but it needs the Shikon Jewel to operate and now that it is gone there is no chance of reopening it. She is completely lost to me…and so I have lost both hope and the will to live without her."

Sesshomaru didn't let his surprise show on his face, he hadn't been expecting any of his words…sure the priestess acted and dressed strange but he'd never even contemplated the idea of time travel. Though it did mystify him how his brother seemed to continue getting himself caught up with these human females and almost dying for them. "The jewel is gone? How is that possible?"

Inuyasha sighed softly and replied, "When I saw Sango and Miroku they were both dead and without even realising it I wished on the sacred jewel, even now the words I spoke are burned into my consciousness. I wished that Naraku could never come back again…and all the people whose lives were taken by him and his incarnations would be brought back. A pure, unconscious and unselfish wish that purified the jewel and made it vanish from this world while also forever separating me from Kagome."

Sesshomaru was bemused, it was interesting to see that his brother had managed to make a pure and unselfish wish for the sake of others…possibly it was the only way for the jewel to disappear though it did prove a problem for Inuyasha in terms of finding the priestess again. "It is… possible that you will live for those five hundred years and see her again, but even if you don't it isn't worth throwing your life away for. Loosing her should not be that large of a problem…unless you have?"

"I…" he seemed about to answer the question and continue their first seemingly heart to heart conversation when he realised what was happening and stopped. He laughed slightly before he said, "I thought you were going to kill me not stand there exchanging pleasantries with me…if you're not going to help me on my way would you leave me in peace? Talking hurts you know…"

Sesshomaru looked hard at his brother, his eyes were getting a slightly distant, glazed look and when he looked down he noticed that he had lost a lot of blood. He had been so preoccupied that he hadn't even noticed it; obviously the group of youkai had done a better job than he'd thought. He would not be able to get Inuyasha to the old woman's village or back to his castle before he succumbed to death, which was definitely a problem. With another inaudible sigh (he was good at them) he bent down and picked his brother up though he held him slightly away from his white clothes as he walked towards a nearby stream that he could hear.

"What the hell are you doin'?" Inuyasha whispered as he attempted not to have another coughing fit. "Hey! I'm talking to you Sesshomaru, you bastard!"

Sesshomaru ignored all of the other male's struggles and excessive foul language, though by the time they reached the stream he was tempted to knock him unconscious…at least then he wouldn't be such a bother and he wouldn't be so noisy either. Once they reached the stream he placed him down once again a little away from the banks before he turned away from his younger sibling and began stripping off his own armour and outer kimono, "Be silent Inuyasha."

Now only clad in his pants he turned to see Inuyasha staring at him in what could only be described as shock, uncertainty and what seemed to be mortification. Obviously Inuyasha had no clue whatsoever as to what was going through Sesshomaru's head right now, he wasn't an easy person to read in the first place. He wondered idly if perhaps his brother had simply decided that he wanted to bathe and had dragged him along purely to make sure he didn't wander off and find someone else to kill him, on second thought he couldn't actually move so it was probably to make sure no one walked past and decided to put him out of his misery. As time ticked by he couldn't help asking, "What are you doing?"

"I do not plan on dirtying my clothes with your blood," Sesshomaru said dryly as he walked back over to where Inuyasha was still sitting. White dog-ears flicked in annoyance at that particular comment though he couldn't help but roll his eyes, just typical…his brother didn't want to get his clothes dirty with his blood, anyone would think that his blood was infected or infectious or something. So now his brother had to take precautions…what did he think he'd catch from him? Though that he didn't want to get his blood on his clothes, did that mean he was going to kill him after all and put him out of his misery?

Sesshomaru ignored the muttered rantings coming from the hanyou's mouth as he moved closer and began to remove the top half of Inuyasha's kimono, while ignoring his feeble attempts to stop him and more foul language coming from his lips. He surveyed the damage to his half-sibling's body with a critical eye, he could already see the swelling and bruising all over his upper half from where he'd been kicked, it was obvious that he had some broken ribs and probably other broken or dislocated bones as well. Though from the way Inuyasha was having problems breathing and coughing up blood he had probably injured his lungs and had some kind of internal bleeding. He also had some deep lacerations as well, that hadn't stopped bleeding at all since he'd come across him - loss of blood could be dangerous as well even for youkai.

Without another word he picked him back up again and walked over to the relatively shallow river and dropped him into the water. There was a loud splash as he hit the water and was submerged, which was soon followed by cursing as Inuyasha came to the surface once more and wiped the water out of his eyes and to glare at him. With a growl he said, "Bastard! What was that for! I'm hurt enough already without you throwing me into the river, what are you trying to do? Drown me or something?"

"Hardly…if I was going to kill you I would have already done so and it would not have been drowning," Sesshomaru said as he folded his clothes and placed them on a rock, unmoved and indifferent about Inuyasha's ranting over his treatment. "You are covered in blood and dirt, the water will help wash it away and clean them so that I can see your injuries…the mess you looked like before I couldn't assess them."

They drifted into silence until Sesshomaru pulled Inuyasha back out of the water again – for the most part because Inuyasha didn't have the energy or ability to do it himself. He looked over his body, noting that the scratches and scrapes were already healing up before he started running his fingers along his body to find any dislocated or broken bones. Thankfully nothing except his ribs seemed to be broken, but there were quite a few that were dislocated and he clicked them back in place while ignoring Inuyasha's howls and cries of pain though all the pain from his ministrations had caused him to go unconscious. He was kind of glad for that, Inuyasha spoke too much…asked too many questions and swore too much.

In addition to that he didn't really want anyone witnessing what he was going to do next…it was bad enough just for him to know he was doing it. There were deep lacerations and gashes across his upper body from the beating, though it was possible some of them had been from the battle against Naraku as well and had been reopened or they'd never healed since he'd run off straight after battle. Leaning down he ran his tongue over the deep cuts, ignoring the whimpers coming from Inuyasha at the pain since he was prodding and touching the sore bleeding flesh with his tongue, but the healing properties and antibodies in his saliva would make them heal quicker and hopefully remove any bacteria or possible infections that if they got worse enough might be able to kill even a hanyou.

Once he'd finished licking the deep cuts he ripped Inuyasha's inner shirt and used it to bind his ribs the best he could, it would do until they reached the castle anyway. Inuyasha's internal bleeding on the other hand would have to make due with its own half-strength healing saliva and the medicine he would receive at the castle once they arrived there. He cared about his brother but there were limits to his newfound fondness and sharing saliva mouth-to-mouth with his brother was beyond that. Moving back over to his clothes Sesshomaru pulled them back on with ease and then did the same to Inuyasha before he picked him up and flew towards the castle.

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**Okay…so this was in no way lovey boy love or incest interaction, or at least it wasn't intended in that way. I was merely attempting to show that Sesshomaru has grown to care about his brother at least a little bit since he decided to help him instead of leaving him to die. And this was the way to save him that came to mind that was plausible.**

**I know that it was out of Sesshomaru's character, but it's been 6 years since Kagome fell down the well in the beginning. And it seemed that Sesshomaru had lost his intent to kill Inuyasha before that first year was up…he didn't seem to try that hard to kill him anyway.**

**They've spent 1-2 years travelling together without killing each other while going after Naraku so that's another step. So it's possible some caring or love popped into their relationship without either of them noticing it. This chapter is much longer than it used to be, but I'm not cutting this one in half.**


	6. Timeline Explanation

Okay, well I thought that maybe I had made the time line a little complicated and hard to understand. So I thought I might explain

**Age 15: ** She fell down the well and started her journey, found Inuyasha and the rest of her friends.  
**Age 15 - 17:** They traveled together - so for 2 whole years - they traveled collecting jewel shards/fighting Naraku.  
**Age 18: **Inuyasha and Kagome admitted their feelings of love for each other. Together for a year.  
**Age 19:** She fell pregnant and Inuyasha put her down the well.  
**Age 19:** Tried to commit suicide, pregnant / had Tai. Home delivery coz of youkai traits  
**Age 20:** Inuyasha tried to get back only to find that he couldn't get through the well for some reason.  
**Age 21: **Inuyasha uses the wish and tries to commit suicide  
**Age 22:** Tai is around 3 years old...they've been in her time for over 3 years now.

Thats the approximate time line for everything happening so far...hopefully it makes sense.

On another note I've been re-writing all of the chapters so send me a review and tell me what you think.  
And I deleted the other chapters because it was getting confusing for me since the chapters are changing a bit


	7. Unexpected Link

**Chapter Seven** – Feeling Alone

**I'm re-writing this chapter next, so hopefully I'll get back into the flow and write some new chapters after I finish re-writing this. I hope that people enjoy reading this story and drop me a line letting me know what you think. Hopefully the re-write will improve it and not ruin it in any way. Review please and I thank my reviewers so far, your reviews mean a lot to me 3**

**Dreams and Flash backs are in _italics._**

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Kagome groaned softly as she awoke. That had to be the weirdest dream that she'd ever had in her life…completely different than the ones she usually had concerning people from the feudal era. Usually it was Inuyasha leaving her…though back in the past she'd had dreams about Naraku killing all her friends and things like that, but she'd never had a dream about Sesshomaru. It had been of Sesshomaru here in her time, and a big business man to boot!

Kagome opened her eyes and blinked the fuzziness away from her vision, after a moment she sat upright though she closed her eyes again when she felt a little light headed. Opening her eyes again she looked around and she was decidedly confused about her surroundings, she was definitely not in her apartment…it was too big, too plush, too cosy and too expensive looking for it to be hers unless she'd won lotto and hadn't been told about it. Or maybe she had been told and that's why she'd fainted…she pondered the idea but tossed it aside, she'd remember being told she'd won lotto, but the question remained, if this wasn't her room then where was she?

She frowned slightly as she looked around the expensive room, biting her bottom lip she wondered if perhaps it hadn't been a dream? Maybe this really was her job interview and she'd fainted on her employer to be…he probably didn't even look anything like Sesshomaru but for some reason she'd seen him instead. She groaned at the idea that she could have just basically thrown away a job without even managing to have the interview, though at that exact moment the sound of the door opening made her look up, just in time to see a tall, silver haired guy let himself into the room.

"I see you're finally awake woman," the silver haired man said unemotionally as he looked down at the dark-haired young woman who had fainted on him. She had come for an interview regarding the reception job but when she'd seen his face she'd called him Sesshomaru and fainted. "Who are you?"

"I am Kagome Higarashi," she said looking up at the man who was standing in front of her though the difference in their heights which was amplified by the fact that she was sitting down still and it was hurting her neck so she stood up. She was glad that she was steady on her feet, she would not have wanted to make him catch her again if she fell over or something else. She now reached up to his chest and though she still had to look up at him, it was better than when she was sitting down. "And you are Sesshomaru, are you not?"

"Why do you call me that name?" he asked with a frown and Kagome backed up a few steps so that she could look at him without hurting herself and get a better look at him. Had she mistaken another guy for Sesshomaru? He looked exactly like Sesshomaru in build and height, not to mention the long silver hair, fair skin, golden eyes…though she was well aware of the fact that it was plausible that he was not Sesshomaru, if she was the reincarnation of Kikyo and they looked very alike it was possible that there were similar replicas of all of her other friends from the feudal era wandering around Tokyo or perhaps other places.

The possibility that this was not the same Sesshomaru was amplified by the fact that he looked human…his markings were gone, his ears were not pointed and he had neither fangs nor claws from what she had been able to see, but those could easily be masked by make-up or some kind of illusion. There was something about him that seemed so familiar and something inside of her said that this was the same Sesshomaru that she'd known back in the Feudal era, or at least physically the same person. If he was living in this era as a business man he had to have changed in some aspects, it was a discovery though…she'd thought that all of the youkai had died off since she hadn't been able to sense them.

"My apologies if you are not Sesshomaru," she said softly with a faint sparkle in her dark brown eyes as she looked up at him. There was a happy spark in here that had been missing for a long time, since she'd been cut off from the feudal era. Despite the fact she was looking up at Sesshomaru, someone who'd tried to kill her multiple times among other things and they'd never been close but he was someone who knew what happened while she was gone, someone she could talk to about the past without having them think she needed a psychiatrist. "Though I am around ninety-five percent sure that you're definitely him."

"My name is Maru InuTaisho," he said stiffly. He was unsure who this woman was to know him as Sesshomaru because he had not gone by that name for over three hundred years. All of the youkai that wanted to fit into this world had been forced to change their names and move cities as the time passed as to not cause suspicion at their lack of aging among other things. But there was no doubt in his mind that the woman before him was not a demon and she was clearly in her early twenties, yet she was adamant over the fact that his name was Sesshomaru. How was it that she could know him? It puzzled him.

"Aha…so that's your current alibi then?" she asked with a soft laugh, she was actually quite enjoying teasing the cool, uptight business man. He seemed to be getting quite annoyed at her teasing but hey at least she wasn't dead; if she was doing this back in the feudal era she'd probably be dead or maimed by now. It was obvious he was unsure as to who she was and how she could know him since she was obviously a young female human.

"What are you talking about woman? That is my name!" he growled in frustration. In all his years he had never found himself in such a position, he had always made a point to know in depth about all about his enemies and allies. But this woman he couldn't place her though she did look vaguely familiar he didn't know where from and that put him to a definite disadvantage and he hated that.

"I take it then, that you don't remember me then?" she said smiling. She was having too much fun in this conversation, the great Sesshomaru was at a loss and she was holding the cards…something he was obviously not pleased about but she was having fun. Providing that she didn't end up dead at the end of this it was all worth it, it was just too bad that she wasn't going to get that job anymore…she really had needed it. "I suppose that's not too surprising since you're over five hundred years old, it would be hard to remember everyone and my name is Kagome, not 'woman'."

"Alright then Kagome," Sesshomaru said reluctantly, it was pointless and futile to continue denying that he was Sesshomaru because she had obviously seen through it. He sat down on the couch that she had been lying on earlier and motioned for her to sit down as well, which she did. "Very well, I am Sesshomaru… but what I do not understand is how you know such a thing, I haven't gone by that name for a few hundred years and you're obviously human."

"Well since you asked so nicely and you haven't attempted to kill me yet I will tell you." Kagome said grinning, seeing someone from the past was wonderful…she wondered if perhaps any of the others had survived the five hundred years and were still alive now as well. "I know you from around five hundred years ago, while we were in the feudal era."

"That is completely impossible woman… you look barely in your twenties, you couldn't possibly have been around back then," Sesshomaru said with a frown as he picked up the phone with the intention of calling his receptionist to ask her to bring in a tray of tea.

"I am twenty-one to be exact and I thought I told you to stop calling me woman?" she said glaring at him from her position on the couch. "My name is Kagome, Ka-go-me!"

"Okay then, Ka-go-me. I'm going to get some tea brought in, are you hungry?" he asked her, looking over his shoulder at her with a raised eyebrow. Though he couldn't help but let a small smile grace his lips at the small growl her stomach made at the mention of food and he turned around again and dialled the number. "I will take that as a yes…Crystal can I have a tray of tea and biscuits brought in please, thank you."

"Mm…I didn't actually know that you owned the business when I applied for this job you know," she said half to herself as she looked down at her hands. She couldn't help but be glad that she had found him in the future, in this time he actually wasn't quite so bad…a little less emotionless and violent than in the past thankfully. Otherwise he'd probably have killed every human that crossed his path and looked at him wrong, not that any jail would have been able to keep him in…but still it was good to see he wasn't a threat to the whole of humanity.

"I gathered as much since you fainted when you saw me, obviously it was a big shock to you." Sesshomaru said as he sat back down on the couch, the grin was still resting on his lips. "You're just lucky that my reflexes are as quick as they were five hundred years ago or you could have hurt yourself."

"Oh…thanks," she said softly when she realised that he must have caught her and carried her to the couch when she had fainted. The realisation made her cheeks turn a light shade of pink and she continued to look down at her hands as she willed the embarrassment away. Sesshomaru nodded and stood to meet his receptionist at the door and take the tray from her, easily balancing it until he placed it on the table in front of the couch. She glanced up at him from beneath lowered eyelashes as she pondered the change in him, he had changed over the last five hundred years and she couldn't help but wonder what had caused it. He actually let his emotions grace his face and show in his eyes as he spoke to people, sure he still wasn't the type to go advertising his thoughts and emotions around. He would definitely be the type that would make a good business man…

The sound of him sitting once more pulled her out of her thoughts and she glanced up at him once more realising that she had gotten caught up in her own thoughts. She watched as he poured the tea out and placed a cup in front of her. She smiled her thanks and leaning forward she added milk and sugar to her tea from the tray. Sesshomaru frowned slightly, now that he was close to her, her scent seemed very familiar but he couldn't place where he knew it from.

"Well it's not very surprising that you don't remember me…we didn't exactly have a friendly relationship, actually you probably didn't have friendly relationships with anyone back then. Whenever we met you were always trying to kill me or my companions, plus you always looked down on me because I was human and 'below you' and that kind of thing. You wouldn't believe how much you annoyed me with your high and mighty attitude…and you were so emotionless…Lord of the Western Lands," she said with a wave of her free hand though a smile curved her lips as she thought back and there was a distant look in her eyes. "…but you know, I'm glad that you survived the last five hundred years. I'd never been able to sense Youkai in this era so I assumed that you'd all disappeared or been killed off at some point in the past."

With a slight laugh she paused before continuing, "Sorry I still haven't answered your question…I didn't mean to go off on a tangent like that. I was the young Miko that travelled with your younger brother Inuyasha to collect all the jewel shards and defeat Naraku."

"You were…and my brother's mate," he said softly. He could finally place the scent that he hadn't smelt for five hundred years though it also had Inuyasha's own scent mixed in faintly. He had not known that his little brother had marked and mated with the girl before he had made the mistake of throwing her back into her own time…he'd actually thought to begin with that his brother had gone a little crazy from loosing her but when the rest of her group had also said she was from the future he'd had no choice but to believe them. After all there was no other way for her to simply vanish and be completely cut off from them with no way of retrieving her. Though who would have thought that he'd come across her like this?

Kagome nodded as she stared down at the tea in her hand like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Now that she could ask the million questions that she'd been obsessing over for the last three years, the questions that swirled around in her head even now…she wasn't really sure if she wanted to know the answers. She could tell that talking about it was bringing thoughts of Inuyasha back into her head and the pain back into her heart, she bit her lip lightly hoping that she wouldn't end up a blubbering mess from talking about it. "So, uh…what happened while I was gone? It's been three years for me since Inuyasha sent me back to this time…"

"What's happened in the last five hundred years would take a long time to discuss…and more than what I can spare today. I have a meeting soon and I have a few more interviews for the receptionist position as well, would you like to reschedule your interview?" he asked with a smile. Kagome was surprised, she hadn't thought that he would offer such a thing…she'd just assumed that she'd lucked out on the job opportunity since she'd kind of wasted her interview time. She nodded, quite mute from the obvious change in the person in front of her…despite it being a good change in him it was a shock considering for her had only taken three years to occur.

"Are you free tonight? I would be quite happy to discuss the past and answer all of your questions over dinner, I'll pick you up at seven if you give me your address," he offered without really giving her a chance to refuse. Kagome was unsure as to whether or not she should agree, but it wouldn't hurt to go out to dinner with him and she did want to know what had happened to everyone. In addition it was nice just to have someone to talk to that understood the time that she'd spent in the past, she wondered dazed if her mother would mind looking after Taishi.

"Um…okay then, I'll meet you at the Higarashi Shrine," she said knowing that she would have to go and see her mother and Taishi before she left. "Do you know where that is?"

"Of course, I will see you at seven at the Higarashi shrine tonight then," he said with a slight nod of his head and with that he ushered her out of his office so he could go to his meeting and leaving Kagome to wonder if it had all been one big strange dream as she left the building.

Kagome walked in the front door of her one bedroom flat and toed off her shoes before dropping her keys and bag onto the kitchen table. With a soft sigh she ran her hand through her long ebony strands before she continued into the small lounge room that went off the kitchen. She enjoyed the feeling of her feet on the carpet because they were feeling a little sore from all the walking she'd done in those heels…seriously the people that invented high heels should be shot for coming up with those torture contraptions. Either that or the males should have kept them to themselves instead of deciding to give them to girls, it had always amused her that they had originally been created for a guy…some king who was short and wanted to be taller.

She dropped down into one of the armchairs and rubbed the bottom of one foot, sighing softly she wondered why she'd actually agreed to going to dinner with Sesshomaru. Well, actually she did know why she'd agreed to it…it was the fact that after three years of isolation and being cut off from everyone she'd found someone that knew all the people she missed so much. Someone that could possibly answer all of her unanswered questions…and someone that knew what the Feudal Era had been like, someone that could relate to her past experiences like no one else here in this era could.

With a sigh Kagome reluctantly pulled herself off the chair and walked over to the phone, she had to call her mother and check whether or not they could look after Taishi tonight. Even though she knew that they would be overjoyed to look after her little bundle of energy, she wouldn't feel right assuming that it would be okay. Picking the phone off the hook she dialled her mum's number and carried the cordless phone back over to the chair, tucking her feet under her as she waited for someone to pick up the phone.

The phone rang half a dozen times and she was beginning to think maybe they had gone out somewhere that afternoon or that they were all outside when finally someone answered the phone and he sounded slightly out of breath, "Hello! Higarashi residence, Souta speaking."

"Hey Souta!" Kagome said with a grin when she realised that it was her younger brother on the phone, she hadn't spoken to him in a while actually. Lately it seemed as if he was always out or studying when she dropped Tai off or picked him up. "So how is my favourite yet most annoying younger brother doing today?"

"I'm fine, but who are you calling annoying? Besides I'm your only younger brother or brother in general and you were always the annoying one not me," Souta said with a laugh. "Taishi has been keeping Mum busy all day though…he really loves it outside, a real rough and tumble boy. One day I'm going to have to show him the joys of playing video games…though maybe when he's a little older and I have more time."

"Oh, no you don't! No corrupting my son with your video game obsession," Kagome said imagining the problems once Tai was introduced to video games. Aside from the fact that she couldn't afford to buy him any right now since she wasn't working she wasn't sure how Tai would go controlling his strength when using those kinds of things. She grinned when she thought of her mum trying to keep up with Tai and she added, "And that's what he's there for, to keep mum on her toes and occupied. So how is high school going at the moment?"

"Urgh…don't even ask," Souta said with a groan and she could imagine the face he would be pulling right now. "School is a complete pain…I don't understand how they can expect us to do so much work! I only seem to finish it before they bury me in more… I just have to keep telling myself that I'm almost finished. Only this year and next year left before I can say good bye to high school forever!"

"Yea you'll finally be finished high school but then you have more study to do at university unless you're not thinking about going there anymore." Kagome said with a laugh. She could completely relate though, there was only so much school that someone could handle before they were sick of it. "Though changing the subject, how is it going with Kimiko and you?"

"Kimiko and I are fine, both in a separate sense and together. Seriously, she's like my saviour amongst all the books, reading and writing…not to mention the maths and all those other terrible things that they force us to endure," He said wryly before he added more seriously. "You should come back home Kagome."

"We've been over this before Souta," Kagome said with a sigh. "There are just too many memories for me there at the shrine…just too many things remind me of Inuyasha still and right now I can't live there. It just won't work for me and besides it's time for me to be out on my own…a place for me and Tai." Souta started to protest and she interjected, easily cutting off his attempts at protest, "No buts Souta…you can't change my mind on this issue. Can you get mum for me please?"

"Yea okay," he said sounding a little dejected as he put the phone down and went to get their mum. Kagome sighed softly, Souta was always trying to talk her into coming back home and she had to admit that it was sometimes a tempting offer, but at the same time she wanted to be out looking after herself. She was worried that if she was at home she would end up relying too much on her mum and family.

"Hello? Is that you Kagome?" asked the slightly breathless voice. Obviously she had been running around or doing some kind of physical activity before Souta had told her that Kagome was on the telephone and wanted to talk to her.

"Hey mum, yea it's me," Kagome said with a smile. "I see that Taishi has obviously been keeping you busy and on your feet today. Has he been playing around outside all day again?"

"Yeah, that grandson of mine is so energetic…he's been running around and playing all day, it's a wonder that I have even been able to keep up with him." Mrs Higarashi said with a smile before asking, "So how did the interview go?"

"Oh, we had to reschedule it. I'll be going back next week I think, they said that they'd call me when they had a definite date and time for it," she said not wanting to get into the whole story over the phone. She'd talk to her mum about it all later when she came over before meeting Sesshomaru, "I was wondering if maybe you wouldn't mind looking after Taishi for me until around ten pm tonight?"

"We would love to," Mrs Higarashi replied. Though she was slightly unsure as to why her daughter would want or need her to look after Taishi so late, but she knew that Kagome would tell her what was going on eventually – probably when she came over to pick him up again. "You know that I adore my grandson and I love having him around the house."

"Thanks Mum, you're a life saver," Kagome said softly. She was glad that her mum hadn't tried to question her about why she wanted her to look after Tai until such a late time. "I will be over later this afternoon for a little while and I'll tell you about what's going on then, love you. Oh and tell grandpa, Souta and Taishi that I love them too. Bye!"

She hung up the phone, relieved that at least that was one thing that she didn't need to worry about anymore. Now she just had to find something to wear…and knowing that Sesshomaru was a top class business man that was probably worth a fortune it was probably going to be somewhere first class. Biting her lip she walked to her bedroom and checked her closet for anything that would be good enough for the dinner. After much rummaging around she finally found the perfect thing, she knew it wasn't a date but she'd rarely had a chance to go out on a date since…well a long time.

She'd never gone out on a date with Inuyasha, not a proper one anyway and she hadn't agreed to go out with anyone after coming back from the feudal era either. She couldn't get past the feeling that it was cheating on Inuyasha and their love, and she'd never really gone on a date before she'd met Inuyasha either except for a few kind of dates with Hojo. So tonight she would wear it because who knew, it might be the only occasion that came up for her to wear it.


	8. It's Not a Date

**Chapter Eight** – Feeling Alone

**I'm re-writing this chapter next, so hopefully I'll get back into the flow and write some new chapters after I finish re-writing this. I hope that people enjoy reading this story and drop me a line letting me know what you think. Hopefully the re-write will improve it and not ruin it in any way. Review please and I thank my reviewers so far, your reviews mean a lot to me 3**

**Dreams and Flash backs are in _italics._**

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Sesshomaru growled softly to himself as he got re-dressed for the dinner with Kagome. He had been inattentive in his meetings after his encounter with her, even though he usually prided himself on being above such things and especially when it came to his business. Though it seemed that this was the exception to that particular rule…because despite his constant attempts to keep his attention on what it should have been, the attempts were in complete vain. It was just as well it hadn't been an overly important meeting and was only a monthly meeting when they discussed and reported on their findings over the last month.

Kagome had grown up, not that he'd paid much attention to her in the past, but he had appreciated that even in the Feudal Era she seemed to be worried about her own hygiene and cleanness unlike most humans. Though it was understandable for there to be a change in her from his point of view since it had been five hundred years, but technically only three or four years for her. He had no doubt though that for her those years had probably dragged out so that they felt like it was five hundred. Which led him to the realisation that she probably had like a million questions that she wanted answered. He might be there all night while she bombarded him with question after question, he couldn't help but grimace slightly at the idea. Though he was going to have to avoid answering some of them.

Sesshomaru was pulled from his inner musings by the sound of someone walking down the hallway and he looked up to see the dark-haired beauty standing in the door way of his room. "Sesshy you're home!" she said animatedly. It was obvious that she was glad to see him home though it was short lived, soon enough her eyes zoned in on the fact that he was getting dressed into another suit - he was currently doing his tie up to be exact. The young looking female couldn't help but pout at the realisation that he would soon be disappearing on her again. "Though I see you're getting ready to go back out again?"

"What did I tell you about that undignified nickname?" he said with a mock growl though his eyes sparkled slightly with laughter as he continued to do his tie. Glancing over to her out of the corner of his eye he continued, "And yet despite my continual complaints you still continue to use it to address me all the same…I think it just makes you call me it more often actually, just to annoy me more."

"Awwwh…but Sesshy! I don't do it to annoy you, it's just such a cute nickname and I like calling you that. I don't see why you don't you like it," she said with a mock pout before turning big brown eyes on him. The continued use of the accursed nickname she had decided to give him made him roll his eyes and he easily evaded the use of her puppy-dog eyes by averting his gaze before she could even try using them.

"I don't like it because it is undignified besides that Sesshomaru is my name…not… Sesshy," he said to her as he stood up once more now that he had finished his tie and was once more immaculately presented. Secretly he didn't mind quite so much that she called him Sesshy…it was just that it wouldn't do to let her know that because then she would be using it constantly and it was one thing for her to use it in the private, but another thing entirely if it was in public.

Once she realised that the teasing and puppy-dog eyes weren't going to work this time she leant against the door frame. She silently watched him as he walked around the room and got his jacket and other things from their places before she broke the silence again. "You never answered me, where are you going anyway? I'm guessing that I'm not going with you since you haven't invited me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mm…" he murmured a little distractedly, not answering her question at first since he was attempting to find his wallet amidst the multitude of jackets that filled his closet. Finally he found it and after pocketing the wallet he walked back over to the young woman that was still leaning against the door frame waiting for an answer to her question. Looking down at her he smiled apologetically and replied, "Sorry sweetheart but no I can't bring you along tonight… though you would never guess who it was that I met today."

"Well…I definitely hope that it's not some long lost ex-girlfriend from the way you're beaming," she muttered with a pout as she attempted to ignore the feelings of jealousy that simmered in the back of her mind. Though her words provoked no words of disagreement from him like she'd thought they would, they only caused his smile to widen further. "It is not funny Sesshomaru! Are you really going out to meet some ex-girlfriend of yours and leaving me at home all alone?"

"Why? Would you be jealous if I said I was?" he teased softly. His face seemingly serious but amusement danced in his golden eyes as he watched her, though he got his answer soon enough when she frowned and turn to flounce off without another word. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back to him before he added softly, "You have no need to worry so much. She is not a long lost girlfriend or old love of mine…there are more serious reasons for needing to meet up with her tonight. I would have talked to her today when we first met except that I had a day full of meetings already arranged."

"I don't know…you're leaving me here all alone while you go and see her. I'll be all alone here at home while you go out and have fun with some other girl," she said sniffing softly as tears started to pool in her soft brown eyes. "I bet she's really pretty too…"

"Rin…Sweetheart…" Sesshomaru said softly as he pulled her closer chest so that she was pressed against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her waist. A frown marred his face as he rested his head on top of her own as she cried into the material of his shirt. He had always hated the sound and smell of her tears, but he could do little about it but attempt to calm, comfort and reassure her which wasn't always as easy as it might sound. Rin's mood swings seemed to be occurring more and more frequently lately and though he had been through it before he wasn't always sure how to calm her.

"I…I'm so fat and ugly…a-and I don't know how you can love me like this…it would be no wonder that you would have to go out and see other girls," she cried into his chest, as tears streaming down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around him and clung to him in an almost desperate way. Sesshomaru's eyes softened slightly at her words and he rubbed soothing circles on her back and nuzzled her hair softly as he cuddled her. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't thank his lucky stars for the gift that they'd given him in the form of this woman beside him and that she had been able to stay by his side all this time.

"Rin, you are neither fat nor ugly," he said softly and sincerely as he tipped her face upwards so that their eyes could meet, running his thumb lightly over one of her cheeks as he continued to speak to her. "I've been with you for five hundred years and you are still as beautiful as the day I fell in love with you. I don't need any other woman, I only need you."

"You really mean it Sesshy?" she asked with a sniffle as she looked up at him with uncertain tear-drenched eyes. "You really don't think I'm fat or ugly or wish you had some other beautiful girl instead of me?"

"Of course I mean it, this Sesshomaru does not lie," he said seemingly going back to his old personality for a brief moment as he looked down at her before he smiled again and added. "Besides, you're my wonderful mate and the mother of my beautiful children, why would I jeopardize all of that for some other girl?"

After a few moments of thinking it over she nodded slightly before moving her hand to her face so that she could rub at her eyes. She smiled a little shakily, "Sorry Sesshomaru…I didn't mean to get all worked up over it like that. So who is it that you're meeting for dinner?"

Sesshomaru kissed her forehead softly, "It is okay Rin. The person that I'm meeting for dinner tonight, is Kagome...it was a bit of a surprise when she walked into the office for a job interview today. You do you remember her right?"

"Of course I remember her!" Rin said and surprise was clear in her eyes as she looked up at him.

His eyes were thoughtful as he continued, "She has lots of questions and she needs to know what happened while she was away, or at least some of it anyway and that's why we're having dinner tonight."

*** Scene Change ***

"Hello, anybody home?" Kagome called as she walked into the house and looked around the seemingly empty house. It seemed too quiet… normally there was always some kind of noise coming from the house and she couldn't help but wonder if something terrible had happened. That maybe a demon had managed to find its way through the well like Yura of the Hair and Mistress Centipede had in the past, but she determinedly shook the thought away, she was just being overly paranoid. The well was completely sealed that not even she could get through so there was no way that a demon could get through it. Deep down though Kagome wasn't completely convinced of the fact that everyone was okay and nothing was wrong, she couldn't shake the seemingly unsubstantial fears that affected her even now that she was on this side of the well. So she quickly deposited her things onto the lounge and went looking for everyone.

After ten minutes of searching the house from top to bottom and finding no trace of anyone she was beginning to freak out. Her mum had known that she was coming over this afternoon and if they'd had to go out for some reason she would have left her a note letting her know what had happened, but there was no note. Kagome took some deep breaths and tried to calm herself down enough to think about the whole thing rationally, after a moment she realised that they were probably outside playing hide and seek or some game like that…Tai had never been an inside kind of kid, he loved the outdoors.

Silently she told herself that she had absolutely nothing to worry about because the Well was closed and her mother wouldn't let anything happen to him. Though she knew that she wasn't going to feel any better until she managed to find them, all of the assurances that she was telling herself meant nothing without the visual to back it up and ease her troubled mind. So without wasting another minute lest she turn into a madwoman she proceeded to make her way towards the Sacred Tree and the gardens of the shrine. Once she reached the Sacred tree she looked around, she didn't see anyone at first though a slight motion caught her eye and she turned her head towards it. She stood there for a few moments, staring at the blur and wondering what it could be until she finally realised that it was her little boy swinging back and forth on a branch. It looked like he would fall from there any moment!

"Taishi!" Kagome screamed not knowing what to do. She just stood there petrified and frozen to the spot as she watched her baby boy hanging from the tree. She almost fainted when she saw the branch slip from his grasp and he plummeted to the ground, but he landed in a crouched position with not even a scratch on him. Biting her lip as she resisted the urge to run over and act like a mother hen to double check he was fine, he didn't need her fussing over him every time he used his demonic abilities…but it was hard for her to remember that some things that would kill human children wouldn't kill him because of his demon blood.

Tai really was just like his father…like Inuyasha. It was too bad that he wasn't here to teach their son about his own abilities, he would have been much better at it then her or anyone else that she knew on this side of the Well. Except maybe Sesshomaru, though she wasn't sure if she liked the idea of letting him near her son despite the vast difference in his personality…she couldn't help the small smile that curved her lips as she imagined what Inuyasha's face would look like at the mere idea of letting Sesshomaru do a thing like that.

Taishi stood up from his crouch and tilted his head to the side slightly, his big golden brown eyes looking at his mother inquisitively for a few moments as his little ash-blonde ears twitched from all the noises. The little boy had sensed his mother's fear when he'd fallen to the ground, he was pretty sure it had been fear anyway. He ran over to her, wrapping his arms around her legs in a hug and effectively pulling her from her thoughts about Sesshomaru and Inuyasha with his actions and voice, "What's wrong Mummy? Did I scare you?"

"Oh, nothing is wrong baby. I guess you scared me a little…I didn't really expect you to drop down from the tree so suddenly like that," she said smiling down at him before ruffling his long ash-blonde hair lightly. He didn't need to know just how much he had scared her with his actions, it was better to downplay the amount of anxiety and fear that the whole thing had caused her because after all it had been misplaced fear because Tai was fine, "Where's your Grandma?"

"Right there," he said pointing behind her. "Can I go play again now?" he asked looking from one grown-up to the other. Kagome nodded and like a shot Tai was gone once again.

"I'm sorry I over reacted Mum," Kagome said with a sigh as she walked over to the seat in front of the Sacred Tree and dropped down onto the smooth wood. "It's just that Taishi is my baby, my life…he's all I have left of Inuyasha."

"I know Kagome," Mrs Higarashi said with a sigh as she sat down next to her daughter on the seat. "But you know that nothing with harm him, Tai is a resilient boy and he has demon blood flowing through his veins. Besides there are limited dangers here compared to the Feudal Era."

"But there are still dangers," she said softly before looking away. "Inuyasha is not here to help him understand his gifts and I wouldn't even know where to start, I would be hopeless trying to explain anything about those things. Plus there are always the dangers of cars, kidnappers and other things that even Tai would be vulnerable to."

"He'll be okay," Mrs Higarashi said with a confident smile. "You and Souta were always fine… now tell me what you're doing tonight that you need me looking after my grandson so late."

"You know the job I was going for at InuTaisho?" she asked, when her mother nodded she continued. "Well it seems that the owner of the business is actually an old friend. Do you remember Sesshomaru? He's Inuyasha's youkai half brother."

"You're going out on a date with Inuyasha's brother?" her mother asked. She was shocked and taken aback at the idea that her daughter would go out with Inuyasha's brother, despite the fact Inuyasha had been gone for the last few years.

"No! It's not a date mum!" she protested, quite horrified at the idea. "It's just to talk! I want to ask him about all of the things that happened while I was gone…"

Kagome looked at herself once more in the mirror and couldn't help but smile at the pretty woman that looked back at her through the glass. Her hair was a dark curtain over her shoulders and down her back, while she was wearing an ankle length dress of glittery emerald green that hugged her curves but still left plenty to the imagination. Green had always been her colour. She couldn't even remember what occasion it was that she'd bought the dress for...but at least it was coming in handy now. Kagome sighed softly, most likely it had been in one of the many shopping sprees she'd gone on at the beginning of her imprisonment in the present time. One of her attempts to make herself happy without success. She glanced at the clock to see that it was ten minutes to seven, Sesshomaru would be arriving soon, she slipped on her shoes as she grabbed her purse and headed down the stairs. But once her mother got a look at her Kagome knew she was going to have trouble avoiding the dreaded camera which was partially hidden behind her back. "You look lovely Kagome! Can I get some photos?"

"Mum!" Kagome protested. She'd never really particularly liked having her photograph taken, and right now it was making her feel very embarrassed. It also made her feel like this was actually a date even though she told herself it wasn't she couldn't help but feel slightly guilty.

"Please?" her mother begged giving her the saddest look.

"Oh…okay then," she relented with a sigh and started posing for her mother's photographs. At least her mother was happy, which was more than she could say about herself. Her emotions were in a jumble of guilt, excitement, nervousness, anticipation and a whole bunch of other emotions that she couldn't name. "Where's Taishi?" she asked her mum looking around the room, noticing he wasn't there.

"Probably in the bedroom playing," her mother said as she snapped the photos and she was quite pleased with them too. Finally she put the camera back down at her side now that she had finished. Kagome didn't look too sure about her mother's reply but she didn't really have time to think about it much more, because the doorbell rang.


	9. Questions Answered

**Chapter Nine** – Feeling Alone

**I was so happy when I finished this chapter because I had 50 reviews at this point, all of the reviews meant so much to me so thanks to all of the reviewers 3 I'm re-writing this chapter next, so hopefully I'll get back into the flow and write some new chapters after I finish re-writing this. I hope that people enjoy reading this story and drop me a line letting me know what you think. Hopefully the re-write will improve it and not ruin it in any way. Review please.**

**Dreams and Flash backs are in _italics._**

* * *

Sesshomaru stood at the door waiting for someone to answer it, slightly impatient and as he waited he shoved his hands into the pockets of his suit pants. He wasn't really sure what to expect from this and he wasn't generally a nervous person, but this slip of a girl was causing it even though he wasn't letting the emotion show outwardly it was still there. The main reason for this strange uneasiness he was feeling was that he wasn't sure what she was going to ask at dinner or how he was going to answer her questions.

"Hi Sesshomaru, I hope you found the place okay," Kagome said softly after opening the door. A genuine smile was on her lips as she spoke, she was so glad to have someone to talk to and someone that understood what it had been like for her and everyone back in the feudal era. Someone who also knew the people she had known and loved and someone who could answer the questions that she craved answers for.

"Yes I did…and you look quite beautiful," Sesshomaru said with a half smile as his golden eyes looked down at the smiling girl standing in front of him. Kagome seemed barely older than the girl he had known briefly in the feudal era – what he remembered of her anyway – which was slightly disconcerting since it had been five hundred years for him and she smelled distinctly human, he'd never expected to run into her again.

He remained silent for a few moments as he looked at her, physically she did not look that different than back in the past or all the other girls that lived in the current era. The difference lay in her eyes, they looked too old for someone who appeared to be so young, but then his eyes and those of other youkai probably had the same look since they lived so long but it was rarer in humans. She looked like someone who had encountered death too often, seen too much, lost too much and they had a deep sadness within them.

"Oh thank you," She said with a slight blush as she glanced up at him from beneath lowered lashes, she hadn't expected a compliment from Sesshomaru but it was another example of how much he had changed since she saw him last. He looked attractive in this suit though she still found it a little disconcerting to see him in clothing from her time and she couldn't help but think he would look better in the clothes of the past more than the suit of the present. Coming out of her thoughts she continued, "Do you mind coming in for a moment? My mum would like to meet you."

Sesshomaru nodded his head slightly in agreement and with another smile Kagome turned around in the doorway and headed back inside confident that he would follow her. Once they reached the lounge room she looked over to her mum and said, "Mum this is Sesshomaru, Sesshomaru this is my mum."

"Oh yes… I can definitely see the resemblance to Inuyasha. You both look quite similar, it's easy to see that you're siblings," her mother said walking over to him so that she could peer at him more closely. "Mm…and you do a very good job at covering your markings with your charm."

"You can see the markings?" he asked perturbed. This was the first time that someone had been able to see through the charm, at least to his knowledge. That some people could have such an insight troubled him…he might have to get in contact with the kitsune about this issue.

"Of course I can see them, I may not be as strong as my daughter but I have miko in me as well," she said with a faint smile. "But don't worry too much about it. It's mostly due to the fact that I know you're youkai already that I'm able to see them so easily. It is likely that others would have a hard time seeing through the charm."

Kagome was slightly surprised at her mother's words about the charm. Even she hadn't been able to actually see through it despite knowing that he was Sesshomaru and what he had looked like in the past. And she hadn't known that her mother's miko powers were active either, she'd thought that they were dormant like hers had been before she had been thrust into the past. Though when she noticed how close her mother had gotten to Sesshomaru she said a little nervously, "Ah…mum you're getting a bit too close to him, remember personal space? And I'm not sure he wants you to say he looks like Inuyasha."

"It's okay," Sesshomaru said not seeming upset at the comparison or the invasion of space though he did move back slightly to renew his personal space. "Also Inuyasha and I got over our differences with time…"

"Oh, I'm sorry," her mother said when she registered Kagome's words. With a wry grin as she moved back a step as well, looking up at the handsome youkai she added, "I always used to do things like that to Inuyasha as well…"

The sound of the front door opening and closing cut off conversation for a few moments as all attention was directed towards said door and the person coming inside which was Souta coming home from studying at a friends place. Though he didn't seem aware at first of his large audience as he started talking, "Hey Mum, there is this really cool car parked out front. Do you know who…" he trailed off slightly seeing all three of them in the hallway watching him. Especially when he saw the tall, silver haired guy standing in the middle of the room beside Kagome, there was something slightly familiar about him but he wasn't really sure what. "Uh…who's that?"

Kagome rolled her eyes slightly at her brother's fixation on sports cars and other cars in general. She never had been able to work out what it was about them that drew guys to them so easily and caused them to obsess about them as well. "Souta this is Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's older brother and most likely the owner of the 'cool car' out front, as you put it. Sesshomaru this is my younger brother Souta."

They shook hands and then Souta excused himself, he had to get ready for his date with Kimiko later that night. They talked for a little while longer and then her mother said, "Well I suppose I better not keep you any longer," she said as she ushered them both out the door. "Have fun!"

"Your mother is nice," Sesshomaru said softly as they walked down the stairs and towards the silver convertible that Souta had thought was so cool.

"More likely meddling and embarrassing," she said with a grin. "But I guess that's what mothers are for."

They arrived out the front of the restaurant and they got out of the car. She looked up in awe at the impressive building as the valet took the convertible's keys from Sesshomaru. As he walked up to her she snapped out of her thoughts and walked with him to the restaurant and she was glad that she was dressed up. They were at a well known Italian restaurant called Antonio's, one of those places that you have to book months ahead... though it obviously wasn't any trouble for someone in Sesshomaru's standing to get a table with only a day's notice. As they walked in she tried not to feel inferior at the stares and glares that she was receiving, though she knew it was simply the fact that they were wondering what Sesshomaru was doing with someone like her. Biting her lip she ignored them and kept her head up.

When she stopped paying attention to the other people and looked around at the restaurant she was in awe of the place, it was gorgeous. All the walls and floors were stained a dark mahogany with colourful abstract paintings and throw rugs in gold, red, blue and green. The wooden tables and chairs were all a stained a light golden colour with deep burgundy cushions and table cloths. To the side there was a band and a bar, as well as a dance floor. "Wow this place is beautiful," Kagome said, slightly in awe as they were taken to their table.

"I like it," Sesshomaru said as he pulled her chair out for her and then pulled out his own and sat down. A waiter appeared as if by magic and they ordered and then the waiter disappeared as quickly.

"So… what have you been up to in the last five hundred years?" Kagome asked. Sesshomaru raised his eye brow in question. "Tell me about how you got into business."

"I was the lord of the western lands until around three hundred years ago. That was about the time that things started to change, the humans began taking over and making advanced technology which they used to try and exterminate us," he said with a slight frown as he thought back to the past. "Since then my family and I have been living as humans – as have all other hanyou's and youkai that wanted to live. We have been travelling from one place to the next and changing our names and appearances slightly thanks to the charms that the kitsune developed. It has been rewarding to own businesses and I am fairly rich from it as well."

"Wow, that's more interesting than me," she said with a grin as the waiter reappeared with their food and a bottle of wine. "So does everyone think that youkai and hanyou's don't exist anymore?" Kagome asked interested. It seemed there had to be some people here and there that knew of their existence.

"Well there are a trusted few around the world that do, not to mention the humans that find love with hanyou's or youkai. It is not expected that they keep something like that from their loved ones but generally it is thought that we don't exist anymore," he said as he poured the wine and then took a mouthful of his food. Kagome nodded at the information it seemed very likely to her. They sat in silence enjoying the meal until Sesshomaru broke the silence and asked, "So what did you do the last few years?"

Kagome's mouth dried slightly as she thought about what she should tell him, she took a sip of her drink and replied, "Not that much. I was heartbroken to begin with and I jumped in the well every day trying to get back," she said with a sigh and a wry smile. "I expected him to come and get me but he didn't, so I tried to move on… I went back to school and caught up on what I had missed and finished school with good grades, then I did a business course and I have been looking for work ever since."

"Would you like to know why?" he asked softly as he swirled the wine in his glass.

"Know why what?" she asked intrigued.

"Why he didn't come back for you," Sesshomaru said still not looking up from the wine glass he held.

"Yes," she whispered but she knew he had heard.

"He couldn't come back for you, he tried though. He wanted you to be safe… but after a year of trying to gather the jewels and defeat Naraku on our own he decided to go and see you. Though before he could Naraku attacked us and stole our jewel shards," Sesshomaru said emotionlessly. Tears filled her eyes at the knowledge that he had tried to come back. That he hadn't meant to abandon them. That was what mattered. "It wasn't until two years after that that we finally managed to kill him and get the now whole jewel off him, but his only chance again to get back to you was gone when he unconsciously made his wish… you see Miroku and Sango were killed in the final battle," he said looking into her shocked brown eyes. "Inuyasha thought of all the people whose lives had been wrecked by the jewel and Naraku and wished he could never come back and anyone that was killed by Naraku or his incarnations would be brought back to life."

Though tears filled her eyes at the now lost hope of him getting the jewel and coming to get her Kagome could not fault the wish. He had used it to bring back their friends and all the innocents that had lost their lives thanks to Naraku. Kagome smiled through her tears and placed her hand on Sesshomaru's. "Thankyou for telling me," she said softly. "Can you tell me what happened to them?"

"Shippo was safe with Rin through the battle and he chose to stay there until he grew up and found a mate. Sango and Miroku got married and had too many children to count. Koga finally mated with the female wolf youkai Ayame. Inuyasha… he tried to kill himself soon after his wish," Sesshomaru said looking away from her once again; he was unsure how much information he should give her. Kagome clapped her free hand over her mouth at this information, no not Inuyasha! He couldn't be gone…

"However I saved him from his death," he said before adding with a wry smile, "Not that he was very appreciative of it."

"What happened to Rin?" Kagome asked curiously.

"She and I have been mates for around four hundred and ninety years," he said softly his eyes glazed slightly with memories.

"Can you tell me more?" she asked softly. Unsure as to what else she wanted to know, just that she wanted to know more.

"Well that depends," he said looking once again at her, his eyes clear once again.

"On what?" she inquired.

"On whether or not you plan on going back to the Feudal Era," he said as he took a sip of his wine. "Future knowledge is dangerous."

"I can't go back! You said so yourself…" she said angrily.

"No, I said that you couldn't get back through the well using the Shikon Jewel because it has been wished into non-existence, but there is the possibility that there is another way to get there. Are you interested?" Kagome nodded silently, so he wrote down his address and handed it to her. "If you're interested come to my house tomorrow at two and I will explain more about the possibility."

Sesshomaru stood up, pushing the chair out behind him and she followed suit without even realising it. She then looked down at her plate and found that everything on it was all gone, she had eaten it without even realising what she was doing because she'd been too engrossed in the conversation. Kagome's mind was still racing with what Sesshomaru had told her and it didn't take her long to become distracted once more, so much so that Sesshomaru had his arm around her waist and was guiding her in the correct direction. Once outside and in the car they headed back towards the Shrine.

She was relieved to know that Inuyasha had tried to come back to get her and she smiled happily when she thought about what little Sesshomaru had said about her friends. She was so glad they were okay and if he was right there might even be a way for her to get back to the Feudal Era. She would give anything to be with them all again. Kagome's smile faltered slightly when she remembered what he'd said about Inuyasha trying to kill himself after the battle and while Sesshomaru hadn't been specific she assumed he went into a battle he couldn't win, though she had trouble imagining that if he had succeeded in killing Naraku. There wouldn't have been many that could manage that and Sesshomaru had said that he and Inuyasha eventually got over their problems or at least enough to get along to a degree. Hesitantly she asked, "Uh…Sesshomaru? How did Inuyasha try and kill himself?"

Sesshomaru glanced away from the road to look at her and returned his gaze back to the road and continued driving, "He went out and let a group of third rate youkai beat him to a bloody pulp. He only survived because I arrived in time to save him and get him back to the castle, he had broken bones and internal bleeding. The baka didn't even try to fight back...he's lucky that I was going through that area of forest."

She couldn't even imagine what he must have been thinking for him to do that, though she assumed it was to do with the same feelings that'd had her slit her wrist, but Inuyasha, her love and protector giving up in such a way. "What… happened to him after that? Was he okay? Did the other's live long lives? Did-"

"I told you I couldn't tell you," he said abruptly.

"But I want to…" she started.

"If you manage to go back to the Feudal Era and stay there it is dangerous to know about the future. But yes they were all very happy…" he continued gruffly.

Kagome smiled at the thought of them all finally being happy.


	10. Surprises All Round

**Chapter Ten** – Feeling Alone

**I was so happy while writing this story, all of the reviews meant so much to me so thanks to all of the reviewers. And I'm re-writing this chapter next, so hopefully I'll get back into the flow and write some new chapters after I finish re-writing this. I hope that people enjoy reading this story and drop me a line letting me know what you think. Hopefully the re-write will improve it and not ruin it in any way. Review please.**

**Dreams and Flash backs are in _italics._**

* * *

Kagome was still deep in her thoughts only coming out once she realised that car had come to a halt. They had arrived back at the Shrine. "Oh we're here. Thank you very much for dinner and answering my questions," Kagome said softly as she got out of the car though she blushed slightly when Sesshomaru got out as well, "You don't have to walk me to the door Sesshomaru," she protested.

"I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I didn't," he said as he locked the car and took her arm as they started up the steps. She couldn't muffle the giggle that escaped her lips at the change in Sesshomaru that came and went as it pleased, it made her wonder if it really was the same Sesshomaru. He held Kagome's arm lightly but firmly, golden eyes silently and unobtrusively scanning the surrounding area. Since he had stopped the car he had felt a strange aura and he could feel eyes watching him and Kagome. It was coming from somewhere in the area of the shrine, he could feel a presence, not quite youkai though similar but for some reason his senses could not pinpoint its exact location. He sighed inaudibly and berated himself: _This is what comes from not training and using your skills_._ From now I'm training a couple of days a week with my pups…_

Sesshomaru's head turned sharply to the right when he heard a branch snap and a figure jumped down out of the tree. Without thinking he pushed Kagome behind him, after all she was Inuyasha's mate and for history to play out as it should she was needed back in the Feudal Era. The figure continued to walk towards them, a low growl emanating from it and Sesshomaru growled back.

"Who are you? Why are you with her?" the figure growled.

"Who are you?" Sesshomaru demanded and growled back trying to get a scent, his back stiffened as he recognised Inuyasha's scent, _what was he doing here?_ "Inuyasha?"

Kagome gasped, her heart jumping into her throat when she heard Sesshomaru say Inuyasha's name. _Could it be Inuyasha? Sesshomaru said he had tried to kill himself but that he had saved him. But if so, why hadn't he tried to find her in the last couple years? _But before she could say anything the figure walked into the light showing a small boy with long ashen blonde hair with puppy ears, extended claws and now red tinted golden eyes. "Why are you with my mummy?" he growled.

_Mummy?_ Sesshomaru wondered in slight shock and then glanced at Kagome. _She had a son and didn't tell me? No, she didn't tell me that she and Inuyasha had a son. Perhaps she did not know how I would take the news since I was so against half-breeds in the past and decided not to tell me._ Sesshomaru shook his head trying to dispel the questions that came to mind, instead he silently watched as Kagome walked over to the young boy and she gathered her son into her arms, calming him with softly spoken words and without a trace of fear. But then she never had, even in the Feudal Era. No matter if she was faced by Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's Demon or even Naraku. Holding him against her chest she coaxed softly. "Hey sweetie, you can calm down now. It's okay, I'm right here and we're just fine."

There was an almost immediate change in him as he calmed down and snuggled against her, calming down at the comforting embrace and her scent. His claws and fangs went back to their normal size and his eyes back to their normal golden brown, but he was staring up at her like he was going to burst into tears, "Mummy why were you with that man? Don't you love me anymore? Me and Daddy?"

When he took the time to look the young boy over he could see the resemblance, though his colouring was weaker than his own and Inuyasha's the resemblance was obvious. He reminded him so much of Inuyasha as a pup, because despite the fact that he hadn't ever shown any love towards him, deep down he'd cared. He just hadn't been able to forgive him for being a hanyou and that their father had chosen Inuyasha's mother over his own. But this time it was different this was his nephew and his little brother's son. He watched in silence as Kagome explained to her son who he was and he was once more reminded why she had gained a grudging respect while in the Feudal Era. She was remarkable for a human and while he realised that with Rin and Kagome, it had taken a few millennia to realise it was the same for other humans as well.

"Oh sweetie, of course I do!" she said tears forming in her eyes at the sight of her distraught son and the idea that he would think she didn't love him anymore. Blinking away the tears she pointed at Sesshomaru and said softly. "But you see that man over there? He's very important because he's your daddy's big brother."

"Daddy had a big brother?" he asked with wide eyes before looking over at Sesshomaru in barely concealed awe. "Does that mean he's my Uncle? Like Uncle Souta?"

"Yes sweetie," she said with a slight laugh. "That's your Uncle Sesshomaru."

"Oh," he said forgetting all about his previous worries and shifted slightly in her arms so he could see him better. Peeking at his newly found uncle from around his mother Taishi whispered, "Can I say hello?"

"Of course," she said as she put him down once again and curling her fingers around the tiny hand she walked with him over to Sesshomaru. Hoping that Sesshomaru had changed enough to accept her son, though if he had gone out of his way to stop Inuyasha from killing himself then she had to believe their relationship had at least improved in her absence. "Taishi this is your Uncle Sesshomaru, Sesshomaru this is Taishi."

The two males looked at each other for a long moment and Kagome was beginning to worry until Taishi let go of her hand before bounding over to his newly found uncle, throwing himself at Sesshomaru and hugged him. Taishi pulled back from the once again shocked and speechless Sesshomaru and started back towards the house at a light run. "I'm going back to bed now mummy! 'Bye Uncle Sessh-oo-maroo!"

For a while they just stood in silence until Kagome broke it uneasily. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Taishi," she said staring at the ground.

"It's fine," Sesshomaru said dismissing it. "You were only protecting the boy; after all you did not know what my reaction would be."

Kagome nodded slightly… her eyes far away at that moment. "You know he is the only reason I am alive right now." she said softly and then looked up into Sesshomaru's golden gaze… so similar to Inuyasha's yet so different.

"In what way?" Sesshomaru enquired.

She wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her arms over her arms as she replied softly, "Once I realised that I was stuck in this time I fell into depression. To begin with I jumped down the well everyday for months and I had terrible nightmares about Inuyasha abandoning me, I still have the nightmares sometimes. But after my mother locked me out of the well to keep me out I tried to end my life."

"How did Taishi save you?" Sesshomaru questioned.

"I… don't know," she said with a slight laugh. "It seems kind of silly when I say it out loud...it's just know that after I slit my wrist I thought I felt Inuyasha and I looked up and saw my little boy. He asking me why I didn't love him and why I was killing the both of us and it snapped me out of my daze so I called my mum to help me but I passed out. I'm fairly sure I should have died of blood loss before they arrived but I didn't."

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed when he took in this information. The boy must be quite strong to contact her when he was merely a few months old, he couldn't have been any older for her to be unaware of the pregnancy. "Hn...well you are very fortunate then, but I must go. Rin will be waiting up for me."

"Oh… about tomorrow…" she said trailing off.

You will see Rin tomorrow," he said not quite going back to his emotionless tone, but almost. "Unless you aren't coming?" he said raising his eyebrow.

"Oh yes I will come…" she said still slightly unnerved about the idea. "I just wondered how I was going to get back."

"You will find out tomorrow," he said with a very Inuyasha like smile and then he was gone. Kagome shook her head and walked back to the house."

*** Scene Change ***

Kagome groaned and covered her head with her sheets as the alarm clock once more began buzzing at her. _It was so inconsiderate…_ with a sigh she threw her sheets off her body and sat up. After a moment she stood up and walked to the window. The morning was beautiful; the sky was a pure sky blue with fluffy white clouds here and there, birds were singing and there was a fresh, sweet smelling breeze coming through the window. And for the first time she could remember in a while…she was happy and looking forward to the day. The news that Sesshomaru had given her was in some parts disturbing and vague, but he had also given her hope. Hope was better than all the money in the world and what she needed so desperately more than anything else. A hope that she could get back to Inuyasha and that Taishi would get to know his father because he needed a father, someone that could teach him about his abilities.

She wondered if Sesshomaru could teach him the basics before they left...it was so dangerous in the Feudal Era. Kagome shook her head, there was time to work all of that out once she went and saw Sesshomaru. Once she found out about this thing that might be able to take her and Taishi to the Feudal Era. She stretched her arms over her head and looked around her old bedroom. Now that she had hope it didn't seem so overwhelming or so full of painful memories, instead it was full of happy memories. Of the times Inuyasha came with her, of the times he checked on her from the tree when he thought she didn't know… of the times he stayed with her.

With a grin she grabbed some clothes and went to have a shower. Fifteen minutes later she walked back into the room now dressed in a dark green hipster pants and a pale green off the shoulder top, her ebony hair loose down her back. Kagome smiled as she looked in the mirror and she saw a glimmer of the girl she'd been years ago. Gone was the sad and haunted girl, instead the happy, loving and carefree girl had returned finally.

Kagome looked down at her son still asleep in the small bed that her mother had brought up for him and she smiled softly and brushed a hand through his soft hair, he murmured something but stayed asleep. Tears filled her eyes when she looked at her son, hers and Inuyasha's son. He looked so much like Inuyasha. She looked at him once more before she took her handbag and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. "Hey mum," she said softly as she sat at the table.

Looking up from making breakfast she asked, "Are you going somewhere?"

Kagome nodded, "Yeah I'm going to go and see Sesshomaru." At her mother's raised eyebrow she replied, "No not like that mum! He thinks he might have a way to get me and Tai back to the Feudal Era. Besides he's happily married you know, it's not like he'd be interested in me that way in the first place and I'm not interested in him."

"Oh?" she asked as she placed Kagome's breakfast in front of her before sitting down in the chair next to her. Worry evident in her brown eyes as she looked at her daughter, "And if he had this knowledge why didn't he try and find you?"

"Because he had probably forgotten about my existence, it's been five _hundred _years Mum, besides that he wouldn't know where to look or when. But yes I'm going to go and see him and his wife," she said taking a mouthful before adding almost to herself, "That reminds me I will have to ask him how Rin survived five hundred years…"

"Why wouldn't she?" her mother asked. "Isn't she a youkai?"

"No she is human unless he found a way to change her," Kagome said with a grin. "Well I guess I will find out if he will tell me."

"So you want me to look after Tai again today?" her mother asked and Kagome nodded her mouth full with the last of her food. "Did you tell him goodbye?"

"No he was asleep still. I shouldn't be too long and if you need me I have my mobile phone. If he asks tell him I went to see his Uncle," Kagome said as she gathered up her dishes and took them to the sink before dropping a kiss on her mother's cheek as she moved to exit the room. As she walked down the stairs of the shrine she ran a hand through her hair and flagged a taxi.

Half an hour later she arrived at Sesshomaru's home and she looked around in awe. When the taxi pulled up at the gates she wondered if maybe she had gotten the address wrong and that they wouldn't let her in when she pressed the buzzer, but all she had to do was think about Sesshomaru to realise that it wasn't too much of a stretch for it to be his. Surrounded with beautiful green gardens and brilliantly coloured flowers of every type she could think of and the home itself was huge! As she looked around she was reminded once more of the wealth the youkai had managed to accumulate, it was almost like a castle though after a moment Kagome wondered if it was. It could very well be the Western Lord's castle from the Feudal Era that she had heard about from Inuyasha. Sesshomaru would have kept ownership of the castle that had been in his family for thousands of years. Cut from cream stone it was beautiful, tall and magnificent.

Kagome exited the taxi and walked up to the front door and rang the door bell. She was wondering how they would hear it in such a large castle when the door opened and she saw a woman who she could only assume was a maid standing there. "Can I help you?" she asked politely.

"Yes I'm Kagome Higarashi and I'm here to see…Sess…uh, Mr and Mrs InuTaisho," she said while silently berating herself. They didn't go by Rin and Sesshomaru anymore... she would have to ask them what their names were now so that she wouldn't almost call them their proper names again by mistake.

"Oh yes they are expecting you," the maid said slightly bowing. "Follow me please."

Kagome followed the maid into a large, sunny and bright lounge room where she could see a young woman sitting in one of the pale green arm chairs that were placed here and there in the room. She was reading a book from what Kagome could tell, though at that moment the woman stood up from where she was sitting and turned to face them.

"You may go," She told the maid in a soft cultured voice but once the maid was gone she ran over and hugged her. "Kagome!"

"Uh, hi," Kagome said with a grin as she hugged the girl back that could only be Rin. When she pulled back she was slightly taken aback by the fact that she had grown almost to the same height as her now, though Rin had a certain elegance about her that she seemed to have gained from Sesshomaru, or perhaps he really had found a way to make her youkai. But despite her elegance it seemed the girl had kept her wild hairstyle though it was a little more elegant in the way it was layered and flicked out around her face, reaching below her shoulders but it was a little strange that the little girl now appeared older than her and was much, much older. Despite the years she still bubbled with youthful laughter and joy and at closer inspection she could see the other girl's bump that she recognised as pregnancy. Smiling Kagome asked, "You're pregnant?"

Smiling they sat down together and Rin put her hand on her stomach with a smile. "Yes I am. This is the forth pregnancy though that's not too bad for being with someone for five hundred years...and of course not all of them were single births either. I heard from Sesshomaru that you had a little boy?"

Kagome nodded and said, "Taishi. He's three, what about yours?"

"We shouldn't tell you," said a soft masculine voice and Kagome rolled her eyes. What was it with these males and their desire to say the same thing over and over again? What could be the harm in finding out about their future children?

Rin pouted cutely, "But I want to tell her about my babies!"

"Rin you know it can unbalance things, what would you do if we told her all that and then she ended up changing things with her knowledge if she successfully goes to the past. Just a simple slip could stop us from even getting together," Sesshomaru gently chastised as he came further into the room.

She could see his point in a round-a-bout way, she didn't want to learn anything that could wreck their relationship so she decided to change the subject "So what names do you go by in this time anyway? I almost said your real names to the maid."

"Oh that's not overly important here. Almost all the people that work here are youkai, hanyou or mates with a youkai or hanyou," Rin said with a grin. "Here we just go by our proper names, but legally I go by Rinoa and Sesshy here goes by Maru."

"Sesshy?" Kagome said a giggle passing her lips at such an adorable nickname being put to someone like Sesshomaru and though he glared at her it was wasted since Kagome wasn't paying much attention and it softened considerably when it landed on Rin.

"I told you not to call me that," he said gruffly. "Especially with company."

"And has that ever stopped me before?" Rin said with a raised eyebrow.

_Why was it that he could never win?_ He wondered before saying, "Come Kagome I need to talk to you about the amulet."

Kagome followed Sesshomaru into his study and sat down in one of the seats, moments later he did the same thing though he didn't say anything. They sat there in silence until Kagome broke it, "So what is this amulet that you wanted to talk about?"

"The amulet is what I think might be able to take you back to the Feudal Era."

"You think!" Kagome shrieked and Sesshomaru winced ever so slightly as the noise rang in his ears. "What do you mean you _think _it will work?"

"Well its not like I can test it is it," he growled slightly in response to the pain and annoyance that she was causing his person. Sometimes he wished that humans weren't so loud or that his hearing wasn't quite so good.

"You can't?" she demanded. "Why not?"

"Because from what I can find out it only works twice," he said with an inaudible sigh. "So if I used it to check I would then either have to wait another five hundred years to give it to you or use it to come back which would mean it would then be useless."

"Oh," Kagome murmured feeling very foolish. "Sorry..."

Sesshomaru nodded his acceptance of her apology then leaned down and unlocked one of the draws of his desk. Then proceeded to pull something out and place it on the desk between them. It was a small dark mahogany wooden box only about six inches in diameter with golden filigree around it. Kagome inched closer to the box so she could see the detail of the box and saw that it had strange symbols engraved in the lid and on the sides which she assumed that it was the language of those who had made the box and the object inside. Reaching out she hesitantly opened the lid, the inside was covered in blood red velvet and Sesshomaru pulled out the pendent. The fragile filigree chain was long and on it was a blood red stone, possibly a ruby, surrounded by gold and linked to the chain. Though in the middle of the stone was a tiny golden time glass. Kagome looked away from the pendant and at Sesshomaru, who after a moment placed the pendant in her hands.

"This pendant was made long ago by a race that has been gone from this world for centuries, much about them has been lost and even this pendent has been thought a myth for centuries," he said leaning back in his chair slightly. "It is thought to be able to take a person to another place and another time. I have been looking for this for a while though even I don't understand its powers I managed to decipher the fact it can only be used twice, so you must be careful. If you were to use it and end up in the wrong place you would only have one chance to get either back here or to the feudal era."

Kagome looked at the pendant solemnly… _would she risk it?_

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**Okay since this is a new chapter I expect you ALL (no exceptions, hehe) to give me reviews! So I know what you think. How am I supposed to continue and feel loved if you won't talk to me?** **However I don't want flames! If you do I will have to cry in the corner _sniffl_**


	11. Choices

**Feeling Alone** – Chapter Eleven

**Yes, I got another chapter done! Woo hoo! Okay people I want some new reviews before next chapter pleeeeeeeeeeeeze. Because how am I supposed to continue and feel loved if you don't talk to me? Though I don't want flames. I'm a softy though and even if I don't get that many I will still post the next chapter… hmmm…. Maybe I shouldn't admit that… but I'm just so happy. THANKYOU EVERYONE FOR REVIEWING MY LAST CHAPTER! Hopefully I'm over my writers block. ****But I'm back into the feel of things I think now. **

******NOTE: I have edited original 13 chapters down to 10 which is why it looks like there aren't new chapters but there are. It's mostly a little reordering and making chapters longer. So it wont really matter if you don't re-read because there hasn't been any big changes.  
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**Dreams and Flash backs are in _italics._**

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_Well duh, of course she would. If anyone had thought she would miss this chance then they were crazy! If there was any chance at all that she could be reunited with Inuyasha and her friends she would take it. After all she couldn't imagine what it would be like for Inuyasha to be all alone for the next five hundred years because a few years had been bad enough for her she couldn't leave him all alone. She wasn't even sure he would last that long and she couldn't even think about never seeing him ever again._

Kagome placed the pendant carefully back into its box and closed the lid. Picking up the box she held the object against her chest protectively before looking back at Sesshomaru and she smiled, "Thank you Sesshomaru for all your hard work in researching it, I will of course use it to try and go back to Inuyasha. After all I couldn't leave him all alone for the next five hundred years. I need him and Taishi needs him too."

With a slight smile he said, "I thought you would say that."

She hesitated for a moment thinking about why Sesshomaru of all people would have spent so much time looking for a pendant that would help reunite her and Inuyasha. Not that she wasn't grateful, but it wasn't what she had expected, but then she supposed he would have to find something to occupy his spare time for five hundred years. Especially when going around slaying things stopped being a viable option. "I was wondering, why did you go through all the trouble of researching it and trying to find this object? Especially when you didn't know where I was and it seemed you had forgotten all about my existence until I showed up at the interview."

Kagome half expected him to once again say that it wasn't something that she needed to know or it would mess with time but instead he actually answered her. Amusement visible in the golden gaze though he was serious as he said, "Even I do not like to see Inuyasha in such a depressed state where he wants to kill himself, things were very difficult when you were gone and in time I heard rumours so I searched for it in order to bring about a different ending for you both. But you have to keep in mind that it has been five hundred years since you disappeared and no one knew the exact year you were from or much else that would help us find you."

Wide brown eyes looked up at him as it was once more inferred that something bad had happened in the past that needed changing and she had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that it had something to do with Inuyasha. She opened her mouth to ask but she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. Instead she said, "I suppose that's true and I have a favour to ask Sesshomaru."

Surprise flitted across his face for a moment before it disappeared, "What is it?"

"Since I will be taking Taishi with me to the Feudal Era I was wondering if you could teach him about his abilities before we left on our journey. I don't understand his abilities so I haven't been able to train him in any way or help him to understand his abilities. I haven't been much help with his questions either so I'm sure he would appreciate a little tutoring, besides that I don't like the idea of him going to the Feudal Era unable to protect himself properly. It is a dangerous place."

Sesshomaru's eyes became thoughtful. The Priestess' logic was sound it would be very irresponsible to take an untrained hanyou back into the past. "What about you? I would think you would need some practice as well, I doubt you have been training your archery skills since you came back to this time and your miko skills were never trained to begin with. You could probably do with some basic self defence too with the amount of trouble you tend to get into."

"Hey! What do you mean the amount of trouble I used to get into? It was you guys that were the cause of all of _my _trouble! I wasn't the one going around trying to kill my younger brother half the time," she said glaring at him with her hands on her hips. That was just so typical. "And yes I know more about my powers than he does, I lived there for the majority of three years but yes I would be re-training at home."

"Why at home?" She questioned.

"I have an old target I used to use there and I can probably research some information on my priestess skills. So will you?" she asked hopeful that he would agree to train her son. Despite his rambunctiousness he was very intelligent and quick to learn things and she couldn't imagine that he would be that different than Sesshomaru's own children unless they were ice princes too.

"I will teach him for a month before you go, on the condition that you too train here."

Kagome was glad to hear him agree to train her son but she was caught off guard at the request that she train here as well. "But why do you want me to train here?"

"So that we may spend time with you over that time and as I said, you need to learn some normal self defence. I'm sure that either Rin or I can spare some time to train you, and besides I think that Tai would find it easier with you here. Even if I am his uncle he doesn't really know me and we have top of line archery equipment here and as you know there is plenty of room."

"Ok! Thank you so much Sesshomaru," she said giving him a hug while still holding the box. Surprising both him and herself when she realised what she was doing. She almost expected him to push her away but was relieved when he hugged her back lightly.

"You are welcome." He said before they made their way back to the front door where they were met once more by Rin and said their goodbyes.

"Okay then I will see you both tomorrow then," Kagome said with a grin as she hugged both Rin and Sesshomaru with the box still held tightly in one hand. "Oh, can I borrow a phone to call a taxi?" she asked once she remembered how she had gotten there.

"No, our chauffeur will take you home," Rin said with a grin.

"But…" Kagome started to protest.

"No buts," Rin said. "It's not like we're going anywhere right now, and the cars need to be used now and then… half of his car collection never comes out of the garages."

Kagome decided that she wasn't going to win this fight, and it's not like she had the money to spend on a taxi anyway so she got into the car and waved goodbye, she even managed to get a small wave off Sesshomaru as the two of them stood by the door, hand-in-hand, watching as Kagome left to go back home in the car. When Kagome was gone the pair turned and walked back inside the mansion and up to their private quarters, once in the confines of the room Rin sat down at the vanity and started brushing her hair. Sesshomaru stood watching her with unreadable gold eyes for a long moment before moving to sit on the bed and continued to watch from there. As he watched he took off the charm so that his demonic features became apparent once again, showing once more the pointed ears and bright gold eyes with slit-like pupils. Magenta stripes on his cheeks, eyelids and body as well as the violet crescent moon on his forehead.

Sesshomaru always preferred being able to see his markings, even though he knew they were still under the charm he preferred being able to see them. After a moment of siting there Sesshomaru stood up and walked over to his wife, lightly fingering the chain at the nape of her neck and she shivered slightly at the touch. After a moment he moved behind her and pushed her hair to the side causing her to pause as he unclasped the chain and took it off. He watched Rin in the mirror as the image altered as the charms effects were dispelled, showing that Sesshomaru had indeed found a way to make Rin into a youkai. In this form her ears were delicately pointed and her eyes had lightened to a golden brown with slit-like pupils. Her hair was a deep burgundy and two matching slashes of colour marked her cheeks, a violet crescent moon marked her collarbone.

"So did things go as they should?" Rin asked as she resumed brushing her hair.

"Yes," Sesshomaru said as he watched her for a few more moments before he stood up straight once more, pensively staring at the charm in his hand for a moment before he allowed it to drop onto the table. "She took the pendant and she is going to go back to the Feudal Era, but first she wants Taishi and herself to train for a month."

"A month?" Rin questioned with a frown. "Isn't that cutting it a little close?"

"I don't think so," he said seriously with a light shrug. "She has another four months at least before anything is going to go wrong which gives her three months to get to the palace and stop it. Despite being human I don't think it shouldn't take that long even on foot providing that she can find the others and get them to help her on the journey. However on the off chance that she can't it is better she is prepared. Especially her son, the boy needs to have some idea of what he can do before youkai try to eat him."

"I suppose you're right. I can't even remember what it is that might go wrong it all seemed fuzzy in my memory," she said with a frown. "I really should have kept a diary in the past then I would be able to remember these things more clearly. But then the years seem to blend together to an extent."

"Maybe you can ask Kagome to give your alternate self a diary?" he teased before continuing. "Though it probably wouldn't have done much good, at thirteen I don't think you were really aware of exactly what was going on around the castle."

Rin smiled back at him. "I might just do that, it would be helpful and you're right of course. It is better for them to be prepared especially since Taishi would have no training so far, Kagome would have no idea how to bring out her son's potential or how to train him. And she wouldn't have used her own skills for three years or more."

"That is true and they can leave when they finish the training, besides knowing Kagome and Inuyasha I have a feeling that she and her son will most likely be finished early anyway. Both are head strong and stubborn, in retrospect I think that they have more similarities than I thought and the little boy growled at me and told me to get away from his mummy. He's just as stubborn and quick to act as his father," he said amused.

Rin was about to reply when the pair looked towards the door when they felt a youkai presence and moments later it opened to show a youkai standing in their doorway with a smile on her lips. White layered strands grazed her jaw-line with pale blue tips and her eyes a matching colour, her delicately pointed ears visible above them. Her skin lightly tanned from her vacation and on her forehead in a similar pale blue was mark in the shape of an eye. In a melodic the Seer said, "Sorry for interrupting but I only just got back and I was wondering if you found Kagome, for I thought I heard you speaking of her before I came in."

"We did though she found me, not the other way around," Sesshomaru stated.

She raised her eyebrow in question, "Oh?"

Sesshomaru had an inkling that all of this wasn't news for the Seer but he explained none the less. "Yes she came for an interview for an office position though you never mentioned that she had been marked by Inuyasha or that they had a child."

"Hmm… oh did I forget to mention that?" she asked with an innocent smile. "Silly me."

"But if he did why didn't…?" Rin started to ask puzzled.

"He didn't finish the process obviously that's why he had no marking in the past and I was unaware of the whole thing," Sesshomaru said with a frown tapping his nails on the table as he thought. "But then no-one would have told him about the inu youkai mating rites at the time. We weren't on the friendliest of terms in the past and when it improved she was already gone by that time."

The Seer interrupted smoothly, "It was just as well it wasn't completed on both ends or it would have hurt them both even more, a one-sided connection was enough for the separation to drive them to suicide. For them to be tied together so completely only to be separated just as completely it would have destroyed them, even with the intervention of both you and the Miko's unborn son."

Sesshomaru nodded in understanding, "She and Tai will be training here for the next month because of the dangers that await them and then they will be going back to the Feudal Era. The amulet will work as you said won't it?"

The youkai nodded deep in her thoughts and wandered out of the room without saying another word, leaving Sesshomaru and Rin alone once more.


End file.
